Drinking From The Bottle
by merderola
Summary: Completely AU. Kate is 18, just about to start college, and Rick is 26, about to get his first book published. Beckett's a little too wild. And Castle loves it. No spoilers. Reviews are very much appreciated!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey! Let me know what you think of this wild side of Beckett and please review if you want another chapter! :)**

 **Disclaimer: Nope. Not mine.**

I woke up as an 18-year-old girl with one hell of a hangover. I didn't know what had happened after I got in the car to come home. Maybe we stopped somewhere to eat or something? I really had no idea. As a matter of fact, I don't know how I handled my parents either. Were they awake waiting for me? Did they get mad at me?

I stretched my arm out to grab my phone which was, for whatever reason, underneath my blanket. Oh, well. At least I woke up alone, and that's always a plus. I then decided to check the time.

It was 1:30PM and I had received 23 texts.

I scrolled down to see who had sent them and, as I imagined, it had been Maddi. They read: "hey becks, hope you're not too hungover" and then "we had a great time last night but you sure were out of control", "do you even remember what you did?" "so sorry, we couldn't really stop you", "anyways", "give me a call when you get up" and things of the sort. What the fuck? I was out of control and untamed, apparently. Ah, I wish I could remember what it was that I did. Maybe it's best I don't know, actually.

A few texts came from group chats saying we should hang out to celebrate my birthday more often… but then there was a weird one from a number that wasn't saved in my contact list.

I opened it.

"Good morning, Kate. I had a lot of fun with you last night. Wanna meet me for a coffee at 3PM? Richard Castle."

Huh. Richard Castle. I think that was the guy I danced with most of last night. But that's all we did, really. Maybe kissed? Yeah. I remember that now.

I guess he was really good looking and it wouldn't hurt to hear from his perspective what I really did last night. Plus, I could use some coffee.

I just couldn't take too much time, since I'd go out with my parents tonight for dinner. And I really wanted to spend more time with them too. Even though I'd gone all "rebel", they still made sure to keep me around for family reunions and they worried about me. Even though I still live with them for the next month or so, I kinda have my own life.

"Sure. How about this coffee shop by my house?" I hit _send_ and texted him the address. That way, even if we did take long – which I'm sure we wouldn't – I would still be in time to meet my parents at home to go to the restaurant together.

I grabbed a towel and headed towards the bathroom to take a shower and get ready. I looked like crap from last night. I had blurred eyeliner all over my face.

"Katie?" I heard my mom say and turned around in the hallway to give her my full attention.

I smiled. "Hey, mom. I'm going out to meet up a friend, but I won't be long."

She shook her head at me, but seemed ok with it. "Remember we're having dinner together tonight, don't be late."

I made my way to the bathroom and turned the lights on. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

That was it. My relationship with my mom: always so peaceful to one another. Even though I'm sure she was mad at me for partying all the time, she kept her patience.

I got out of the shower, dried my hair and decided what to wear. Black skinny jeans, a tight white shirt and a long blue necklace. The necklace was the best part of my outfit, the colorful part of it. And then I chose to wear its matching earrings, along with blue shoes.

As far as makeup goes, I applied my favorite everyday makeup, which consists of eyeliner, lipstick and mascara. I chose my dark purple lipstick, just because.

I checked my phone to see if Rick/Castle had replied. I don't what how to call him, is that gonna be a problem? Sigh. He had replied "perfect, meet you there at 4". It was already 3:55, so I thought it'd be best to start walking to the coffee shop and hope he was a punctual guy.

I said goodbye to my parents with the promise of being home by 5:30PM so we could get ready for dinner, then walked toward the coffee shop.

* * *

Within about 8 minutes, I'd got there and walked in to see if I could recognize this guy. It had only been a few hours since we met, but I did get high. So that confuses things a bit. As I walked in, though, I saw a good looking guy come up to meet me. I just assumed it was him. He was wearing a green and blue t-shirt and jeans. But oh the way his hair looked…

"Kate? How are you?" He kissed me on the cheek and I smiled at him.

Rick/Castle/Whatever escorted me to our table for two and I started laughing. "I'm sorry, it's just I don't know what to call you. Did I call you Rick last night?"

He laughed as well and this was mortifying. You don't just _ask_ someone what to call them first thing, not after you kissed them and spent a night dancing with them. But in my head, it needed to be done. I just had to ask.

"Fuzzy memories of last night, I see?" He gave me one of those charming smiles that you can't fight against, just have to embrace them.

I ran a hand through my hair and watched it fall over my face in the way that I intended it to. "To be honest, it's part of why I'm here. I was hoping you could tell me more about what I did last night."

He seemed to think that was interesting, the way he kept looking at me. With interest? I don't know. I guess.

"Well, for starters, you called me Castle. You said it reminded you of castles and princesses and princes. You might have suggested that I'm your prince," he chuckled.

Oh no. I put both my hands on my face, trying to hide from this embarrassment. "Did I really call you a prince?"

Castle waved his hand away. "Nah, I just wanted to embarrass you because it seems I have so much power to do that now."

I couldn't believe this guy. Really? I knew I wouldn't have called him a prince. It just isn't like me. And yes, of course I have a list of thing that I do that I wouldn't normally do when I get drunk and high, but being romantic is not on that list.

"You think you're funny, Castle." He kept smiling, happiest guy on earth.

He grabbed the menu and handed me one, "How about we order first and then you find out more of my many qualities?"

I didn't take the menu, "I already know what I want."

Once again, he seemed interested by my comment. "You come here often?"

I nodded, "it's close to where I live and I drink coffee a lot."

The waitress came to our table and took our orders. I asked her for the usual.

"What is the usual?" He asked, intrigued.

It was my turn to smile and be the one holding all the power. "Wait and see."

The power of not telling him my order. Great one.

"So, Castle. What do you do?"

"I'm a mystery writer. I told you that last night, but I'm guessing we'll have to do a repeat here." There it was. The cocky, self-assured smiled that I had flashes of in my memory.

I smiled back. "That's an extraordinary career path. Mystery is my favorite genre."

"Why, do we have a fan here?" He PROPPED his head forward, getting eager and closer to me.

I brought my hands together and raised one eyebrow. "That depends, you got anything published?"

He bit his bottom lip, playfully angry. "Damn. Not yet, but soon."

That's when I saw Ellen, the waitress, approach with our drinks.

"Thanks, El," I said as I grabbed it from the table and took the first sip. Castle did the same.

"Anyway, I want you to tell me what I did last night. Or. Rather. What we did." I looked anywhere but at him. Fucking awkward.

He chuckled softly, like it was nothing. "We danced a lot. You're a very good dancer."

I swallowed hard. "Thanks. But what else?"

"We kissed at the end of the party, when you had to leave. Very good kisser too."

Now that was it. I wasn't blushing before, but now I definitely was. "Be serious. What wild thing did I do?"

He ran a hand through his hair this time. "Don't you think it's wild enough the fact that you don't remember it? I mean, you were seriously _on_ something…"

I interrupted him. "That's not what I meant. I know, Castle, I got high. I mean, did we have sex?"

He seemed surprised. So that's good. "What? No. Kate, I wouldn't do that to you, not like that…"

"It's just that I know a lot of guys who would. I just wanted to know if you wore a condom and stuff." My turn to reach for the coffee again.

He was acting all serious now. His facial expressions changed from "playful and cocky" to "serious and concerned". Which, really, was unnecessary in my opinion.

"Yeah, I'm not of them. Just so you know."

"Right. Cool. So I didn't do anything wild when I was with you, then." I tried to think.

He shook his head. "Not with me, you didn't."

Now that was beyond us, I decided to go with a lighter subject. "So, when _are_ you getting your first book published?"

He smiled softly, "Soon. Like really soon. They're editing it for me now and then it should be good to go."

I drank some of my coffee before asking, "what is it about?"

Castle went on and on about his mystery book, which I seemed to think was very interesting and "why didn't it get published before?!" kind of deal. He really had great ideas, very creative and goofy man.

After a good time talking about his other books and the ones we liked in common, I realized it was time to go. I had a few minutes to pay the bill and start heading home.

"Well, I should get going, but it was great to meet you, Castle," I offered him my hand, which he ignored as he pulled in to kiss me on the cheek again. Damn.

"It was great to meet you too, Kate. As fun as you are when you're drunk, I loved meeting the sober version of you." He had one of those charming smiles going again.

I laughed in discomfort.  
"Hey, uh, which way are you headed?" he asked.

I pointed to the direction to my house and he walked my way. "I can walk you home, how's that?"

I shook my head, "you really don't have to."

That didn't seem to matter. "I'm going that way anyways. So, how often do you and Maddi party?"

I smiled at him, because it was really every weekend. And it was really so much all the time. "Every weekend, sometimes both Saturday and Sunday."

He chuckled. "Sunday, huh? I didn't know they had good enough parties on Sundays."

I looked both ways as we crossed the street. "Come on, Castle. It's New York City. There's always a good enough party, any day of the week."

"Maybe you should take me to one so I could verify that statement."

I shook my head as I smiled. All I did was smile. What was going on. "I don't know. Are you sure you can handle parties with me again?"

He looked me in the eye, "I had a great time last night. I wouldn't suggest that if couldn't handle it."

Challenge accepted.

"Well, in that case, I'll let you know when something good comes up."

"Hey, you never told me what you do." He stopped walking for a second.

I looked back at him. "What?"

"I told you I'm a mystery writer, but I still don't know what you do."

I smiled, seductively, a girl of many mysteries of my own. "I party, Castle. That's mostly what I do."

I couldn't afford to tell him that I was going to start off college in a month and was only (just barely) 18 years old. Not when he must be like, what, 25? That would only get in the way. So yes, I chose to not go there.

Besides, he saw me at a club last night celebrating my birthday with my friends. Maybe he thinks I'm 22, 23. At least 21, to be able to get in. So yeah.

And I had my reasons. I didn't want to lose him. Not that we had anything to lose yet, but it was nice to hang out with someone that cared about something other than what my body had to offer. Among other things. I felt like he cared. Maybe not, but maybe yes. I wanted to focus on the "maybe yes" part of it, and try not to fuck it all up by saying "hey, I'm not even legal to go to clubs yet".

I feel like the way I looked at him must've hypnotized him or _something_ because he kept staring at me and didn't ask any further questions. He could have asked me what I do on weekdays, been a little pushier, but he chose not to, for which I'm grateful.

"What do you do on the weekends?" Not exactly changing the subject, was I? But I wanted to know, and I was almost home anyway, so I'd rather know about him than have him know about me in these last few minutes.

He shrugged. "I mostly stay home, go out with my friends to watch a game or go to a bar. I don't usually do your kind of partying, though. Yours is too hardcore for me."

I chuckled. "Like I said, if you don't think you can handle it, you don't have to come with me."

"No, I'll think of it more as a challenge. And the fact that you don't think I can handle it just makes things much more interesting." He said in a playful tone, like all afternoon. The guy can't get serious for once.

"Whatever, Castle."

They walked a few more steps and I stopped. This was it. I'd gotten home. "This is it," I said.

"Damn, I wish you lived further from the coffee shop." He bit his bottom lip.

"Why is that?" I already knew the answer, but it'd be good for my ego.

He smiled and leaned close to me. Was he going to kiss me? That's not-

"So that we could talk for longer." He was looking at my lips in a way that was just- Did he not think I could see him? Really, not very discreet. Or maybe it was just my dark purple lipstick, but, I don't know, something tells me it was just my lips in general.

I pulled away, not giving him the satisfaction. I may be a whore when I'm high, but definitely not when I'm sober.

"I'll see you around," I smiled at him as I opened up the door with the key.

As I was about to go inside, I heard "Hey," which made me turn around.

Cute looking man. Goofy. Charming. "What?" I simply asked.

"Let me know when a good party comes up." He smiled again. We're all about the smiles.

This time I did turn around and closed the door after saying "I sure will."

* * *

"Mom? Dad? I'm home!" I said, dropping the key on the table and making my way inside the house.

My Mom came from the kitchen. "Thank God you're here, right on time."

"What is it?" I asked, sitting on the couch to take off my shoes and jewelry.

She looked far from being ready, wearing the same clothes she had been before. It was a Sunday in which my mom didn't have to work; rare Sundays. And so we could, for sure, get some dinner as a family. I always loved those nights.

"Jim!" She called for my father, who came down the stairs wearing a t-shirt and shorts, pretty much matching my mom. I guess we're not going out to dinner?

"Hi, Katie, you're home."

"Yes, I just got here, but I can be ready in 20 minutes. Where are we going?" I held my shoes and jewelry as I got up to get ready.

Mom interfered, "actually, honey, we were thinking we should stay in and have dinner here. We've both been so tired. We ordered pizza."

"Hope you don't mind," dad said.

That's actually a better plan. "No, it's okay. It's works better for me too."

Even though it was my birthday yesterday and all that, I'd much rather spend Sunday home with my parents than having to go through the trouble of getting ready to go out and eat at some fancy restaurant. Truth is, I was still a little hungover and had already gone out that day. My birthday celebration with my friends turned out to be so "hardcore", as Castle put it, that I don't think I could handle that kind of birthday celebration with my parents.

"We don't want you to think we don't care for you, honey, bec-"

"No, Mom, don't worry. I'd rather stay home with you guys, talk for a bit. I am tired myself too." No comments about what I did last night, but it was implied. They knew it, but it didn't exactly scream "birthday celebration" talk to any of us.

Dad handed me a plate with 3 slices of pizza and we all sat down. He'd gotten glasses of water for the three of us.

As we started eating, he asked, "Katie, where did you go today?"

I knew that was going to come up eventually, so why avoid it? "I went to the coffee shop with a friend. Just to talk."

"Huh. Was it Maddi?" Mom didn't like Maddi very much. Probably because my worst stories involved her. We did persuade each other to do "bad things" all the time I guess.

"No. Which reminds me I have to call her." Shit. It's been hours since Maddi texted me, I really should text back, or call, or… something. Especially to hear from her what "wild and crazy thing I did last night. Since it wasn't with Castle.

"Who was it, then?" Dad, prying. He always did that. It's just his way of being protective, and I know he only does it because he cares about me.

"This guy, Castle." I answered, shoving a big piece of pizza in my mouth to buy me some time in case the next question was awkward.

"Have you heard of him, Jo? I haven't." Ah, dad. Prying.

Mom smiled, awfully excited about someone that, for all she knows, could be the stereotyped punk kid that she wouldn't exactly approve of.

But one can dream.

"No, I haven't. Who is he, Kate?" She reached for another slice.

"He's this writer guy I met last night," that should cover all of the next questions. A) what does he do? And B) why haven't we met him?

Mom seemed pleased with the fact that he was a writer, and not a tattoo artist or a hippie nature enthusiast like my previous boyfriends.

I don't care.

"Why don't you bring him home for dinner some time?" Mom asked, even though I thought I'd covered that question. I'd just met the guy. No bringing him home for dinner. That was not in my plans.

I should have lied and said it was Maddi.

Although they wouldn't be pleased with that.

Dad just looked at me waiting for an answer, as if agreeing with mom.

"You guys, I just met him."

Dad picked up our plates after we finished dinner and kissed the top of my head. "You never know, Katie. I have a feeling we might like this one."

Yeah, dad, I thought.

I have a feeling you would like him.

 **AN: Please review if you'd like more of this or if you have any ideas for upcoming chapters! Thanks so much for reading xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you so much for reviewing chapter 1! I love having feedback from you, it helps me write faster. Oh, and as for wild Beckett, I want to explore her for a little longer, but it's not my intention to keep her that way forever. So make sure you stick around to see my plans for this story!**

It had been days since I talked to Castle. We met up for coffee on Sunday, and after that I hadn't heard from him. It was the following Thursday, late morning, until I decided to text him.

"Hey, got a party for us to go. You in?" Was all I typed, hitting the send button and asking myself whether he would reply.

I mean, it had been four days. Four days may not be a long time, but to me it was. And I was the one texting him, so he might not be interested in me anymore. Which I could not blame him for.

A girl that gets so high she forgets what she did and goes on a "coffee date" of some sort with the guy she kissed the night before to figure things out? If that doesn't scream "fucked up", what does.

Then I started working another angle. Maybe he was interested in me, but he works every day, right? And I'm bored on "vacation", had the day off work… So that gave me a lot of time to think. Or rather, overthink.

He may or may not answer, I don't care. I have work today from 4 to close and college in the next few weeks; there are other things I should be focusing on instead of-

I heard my phone buzz. Checked a text from Castle. It read: "You weren't kidding about partying every day. But I can't unless it's on a weekend. "

That's fine, better than nothing. And it was on a weekend anyway. I was just asking today if he wanted to go on Saturday.

"Not tonight, Castle. I do have some things to do myself too. It's Saturday night. You in?" Send again.

He took a few minutes to reply. "Absolutely. I'll have you know I do not walk away from a challenge."

I smiled, all silly and stupid, definitely not _me._

Not too much later, my phone buzzed again. "Wanna tell me more about this party having coffee tonight?"

I smirked. Seriously? How old am I, twelve? It was like he was my middle school crush.

Or my crush at all.

Which he is not.

Right?

"I thought you were only available on weekends?" Of course, I couldn't miss the opportunity. Questions like these, teasing like this made me who I am. And I do kinda like that about myself.

Instant reply. "As long as it doesn't involve drinking on weekdays, I'm available."

It unfortunately didn't matter. I had to work at the library that night, so…

I grabbed my phone and thought about offering for us to meet at around 2PM. Would that be too desperate and forward, since I was the one who texted him first? I mean, I guess not, because he asked for us to meet before the actual party, which meant that there was interest on his part too.

"I can't tonight. But the same coffee shop at 2?"

I couldn't believe I was doing this. Two "dates" (or whatever the hell that was) within a week with the same guy. Not that I hadn't done that before, it's just… It had always been with boyfriends. Guys I would call boyfriends, that met my parents and went to parties with me. Friend of a friend.

Not a guy that I randomly went out with the day after a party. That was definitely news.

But maybe that's why I think I like it. This little thing that's going on. I like it so far.

No sex, not much kissing, not-

Well, not much of _anything_ , really. I don't like _anything_ , because there's nothing to like. Ha.

I shook my head after so much thinking, only to see Castle's reply: "see you then", followed by a winking emoji. Now, the text itself is pretty common, could have been sent by anyone – my mom, dad, Maddi, Maddi's boyfriend Stephen, a friend of a friend – but it was the winking emoji that was a little more…

I don't know. Who am I? Figuring out fucking emojis from texts?

All I knew was that I needed to use this time to make lunch. I went into the kitchen, opened the fridge. Not many options. Man, we had to go grocery shopping. I settled for a couple of frozen burritos, put them in the microwave and waited for the magic to happen.

As soon as they were done, I grabbed them out of it and set my plate on the table as I sat down to eat. That was when I received a picture from Maddi in our group chat (us, her boyfriend, a few other girls and guys who went out with us) of the upcoming party. It said 9:30PM at a local club we went to from time to time. A few DJs were going to be playing, open bar for a few drinks, others you just had to buy. The usual stuff.

I had my first burrito bite. Maddi wanted us to say who was going, if we were bringing anybody else outside of our group, things like that. Not that we couldn't or weren't supposed to; she just wanted to know.

Bob mentioned bringing his newest girlfriend, Brianna mentioned bringing her friend Amanda and George said he might bring his (not so little anymore) sister Anne.

And then I had to say that I was bringing a guy.

I didn't usually have to say that because I only brought a guy to meet my friends if we were in a relationship, no matter how steady. With Castle, it was different. We were not in a relationship of any kind and I was bringing him.

I chewed on my burrito thinking that the whole idea had been kinda ridiculous actually, really really dumb. My friends can be a little "too much to take", and I didn't know how much Castle _could_ take. Or, rather, would feel comfortable taking. But…

I promised him a party, nothing else. He was going to get a party, and this is who I go to parties with, so he was just going to have to deal with it.

I finished my first burrito and grabbed the second and last one. In the meantime, everyone seemed amused when I said I would bring Castle with me. Some of them were wondering who he even was, because not everybody went to the party last weekend. Others were joking asking me "how does your boyfriend feel about what you did after you dumped him after the party" and shit like that.

I had, finally, found out what it was that I did, and it wasn't as bad as I thought. Turns out I had kissed boys for drinks. It was something I took pride in for not ever having done it before, but now I couldn't say the same. I guess they were all surprised by it and magnified the story.

I usually just got drinks from other friends who were over 21, therefore, able to get them. Like Stephen, Maddi's boyfriend. Before they hooked up, Maddi kissed guys in exchange for beer a lot. Now I got drinks from Maddi, who got them from Stephen. Or I would ask Bob, Brianna… But apparently, that night I was feeling adventurous due to the things I used, and didn't want to "depend on anybody". So that's what I did.

I don't want a repeat from that.

I kept scrolling down to read all the texts from my annoying friends before giving another bite.

It was now 12:30PM, which gave me just enough time to finish off my burrito, put the food away, shower and get ready.

I had to be at the library at 4PM and leave at 9PM. So I had two hours to meet Castle AND get there. But I was sure it wouldn't be a problem.

I headed towards the bathroom, got in the shower. After I was done, I decided to blow dry my hair, but not too much – I wanted it to still be a little curly on the tips.

Now, the hard part. What to wear?

I opened my closet and thought of wearing shorts; it was a pretty sunny day in New York's summer. But no, that wouldn't work because I was straight to work, and that meant pants.

I went with skinny jeans that surely made me look good, a pair of white flats and a T-shirt that walked between the lines of "sexy but not slutty" and "still sophisticated to wear in a library". It was a green V-neck.

As far as make up goes, I chose what I pretty much always choose. Eyeliner, BB cream, lipstick. This time I decided on, instead of dark purple, going dark pink. For some reason, pink was just "happier", more summer-y, girlier. Even if it was a little darker shade.

I glanced at my watch to see it was 1:55PM. I had to leave right then, at the risk of being a little late. I had to find a parking spot too, now that I would be taking the car. All because I had to work at 4PM.

I grabbed the keys from the kitchen counter, my black leather jacket – it got cold at the library from time to time –, and opened the door.

As I walked towards my car, opened the door and got in, I started thinking about this coffee thing. What were we going to talk about?

I turned the car on and made my way to the coffee shop. Not 10 minutes later, I had managed to get there and find a parking spot right next to the place.

After getting my wallet, car keys and phone, I pushed the coffee shop door open, only to see Castle already seated at what seemed to be our usual table. Twice we've been here, twice he's picked the same table. Go figure.

"Hey," I smiled. He got up to kiss my cheek and slid the chair for me to seat.

He looked great. Blue shirt and black jeans. Simple, but adorable. His hair looked perfect as always.

I took a look at my watch before apologizing for being late, until I saw that I didn't have to. It was 2:05PM, which only made me 5 minutes late, and what's that? That's nothing.

"So, Beckett, how's your week been?" He asked, fingers intertwined and lovingly eyes, also a hint of a smile.

I winced at the last name. "You're gonna call me Beckett?"

He shook his head slightly, with a teasing smile on his face. "What, you call me Castle!"

I avoided eye contact. "That's different. I mean, my dad is Beckett, my mom… But I'm too young to be 'Beckett', you know?"

He pressed his lips against each other, as if biting down a laugh. "I beg to differ. I think it's a great name, not at all age limited."

I raised one eyebrow.

"What, when you call me Castle do you picture an old man?"

Oh wow. "No, it's different! I mean, yes, someone _older_ , but not necessarily old. Besides, it suits you."

He looked amused. Like he didn't have a comeback for that. No witty remarks this time around. "I think Beckett suits you too."

I decided to shake off that weird – if at all – compliment and focus on getting my coffee. I made a signal to the waiter, who came right away, ready to take our order.

We both ordered the same coffee from last time.

"So, how's the book coming along?"

He grinned widely. "Pretty good, actually. The editing part is almost all the way done, I just have to make a few phone calls and set actual dates for the release."

"Castle, that's fantastic!" I couldn't help but feel excited for him. It looked like he had really worked on it and was a dream come true.

I looked at him and could tell that he was trying to be humble, but couldn't hide his excitement. Which I didn't want him to. He was cute when he got excited.

"Thanks. So, enough talking about me. How's your week been?"

The waiter came with our drinks and set them carefully on the table. I smiled at him and Rick thanked him for us both. Weird. Ellen, my favorite waitress, wasn't there today. It was probably her day off.

And maybe that was better; I didn't want her to assume Castle and I were together. She'd only ask me a bunch of crap about the guy, try to ship us or whatever.

Like she did last time when I was seeing Fred. And look how that turned out.

Actually, nothing exciting coming my way this week, I thought. But I didn't want to seem boring and not have something to talk about, so I told him the highlight of my week. "Well, I got a raise at work this week."

Castle grinned happily at me and took a sip of his coffee. I copied his gesture; coffee was getting cold.

"That's great! Congratulations."

I smiled foolishly and nodded. "Thanks."

"Beckett, you never told me what you work with."

"I work at the library."

I avoided looking at him. Not because I was in any way _ashamed_ of working at the library, in fact I loved my job. It's just that most people don't react well when I mention it. Especially when they think I'm older than I actually am. They ask "oh, honey, is that really what you want for your life?" or "do you get paid enough?". Little do they know that I'm just trying to pay for college fees and dorm rooms.

And that I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Castle was slightly surprised, but very cute about it. "That's so hot."

I chuckled. We could work with hot. I could definitely live with that definition.

"I mean, Beckett, how could you not say that before? Do you like it there?" He watched me drink my coffee.

I smiled at him. "I love it there. I find it so satisfying and peaceful to work in a place that holds that much knowledge and possibility for growth, you know?"

Castle looked at me in awe. His blue eyes were so damn distracting that I tried my hardest not to look directly into them sometimes. But it just seemed impossible; they kept dragging me in. "I take it you like reading then?"

Surprise surprise.

"I do. It's one of my favorite things." I drank my coffee graciously. "Why is that so surprising to you, Castle?" I decided to tease him a bit.

He waved his hands in the air, trying to come up with something at least as interesting as I'd said. Or as good a comeback. "I just- you seemed so- 'party girl' like. And I-I didn't figure those two really went together that much, you know? Not that they couldn't, I mean, you've just proven me wrong, it's jus-"

I chuckled as his eyes stared at me in complete confusion. "I bet I'd kick your ass in a book challenge."

"Excuse me? You really think that- Becket, I'm a writer. Beating you at a book challenge is almost part of my job."

I raised my eyebrow – just another one of my many tricks to tease him. "Need I remind you that I work at a library? I've been doing book challenges since I was what, 14?"

Only four years ago, but I didn't have to bring that up. He probably thought it was at least eight years ago, and being somewhere between 20 and 22 years old was pretty good right then. I didn't have to mention it, just let it slide.

Castle took a long sip of his coffee, taking entirely too long to have an answer ready. "So many layers to you, Katherine Beckett."

I pressed my lips against each other in an attempt to hide a smile, but I don't think it worked, because he was eye-sexing me.

"We'll start with a small one, 3 books tops. Just to get the feeling of competing against each other. I gotta see how good you really are before I can step up my game." I grinned.

I love teasing him, I think? It could become a new hobby.

Castle goggled his eyes, feigning offense. "You're so on. And don't forget about the other challenge we got going. The party this Saturday night."

I got serious right when he mentioned Saturday. "Oh, yes. About that… I have to warn you: my friends can be a little… Too much. They might even say you're my boyfriend, might try to get you to do crazy things with them, use some stuff… And I just wanted to say that you absolutely don't have to worry about any of that. You do whatever you want to do, and if you're not feeling comfortable, we can leave early."

He looked a little overwhelmed now. Like he didn't know how to process such information. It really was a lot to load on a guy I'd only known for less than a week.

"Oh, you're underestimating me, Beckett. I can have fun. I can get really crazy. You'll see."

That was not what I meant at all. I just meant for it to be a warning, but now he probably thinks I was trying to wound his poor gigantic ego.

"Right. Well, you know, just a heads up." I drank the last of my coffee.

Castle grinned widely again. What was it now? Did I spill coffee? Did my hair look weird? "What is it?" I asked.

"You said that if I didn't feel comfortable, _we_ could leave early." Oh man. I understood now what he got excited about.

I pretended not to care. "Yeah, so?"

"Nothing, I'm just really fond of the pronoun you used, is all."

Right. That kind of answer was just something I had no idea how to handle.

I watched him take his last sip of coffee and we both looked at each other not knowing what to say.

"I guess I should get going," I said.

Castle seemed a bit disappointed. "What? I wanted to get you to try my favorite donut."

I grinned. "Maybe some other time. I have to be at the library in 40 minutes and I'm taking the car. It's not exactly close to here, so."

I stood up and watched him do the same. "Can I walk you to your car, then?"

I had to smile at that. My car was parked right next to the coffee shop and it would take us 40 seconds to get there. "Sure."

I opened my wallet to pay the bill, but he insisted on paying for me. Sure, it wasn't too much money and he could pay for it, but he did that last time too and I felt a little bad inside. Still, arguing wasn't getting me anywhere. So I gave in.

He grabbed my hand and we walked, for about 40 seconds, holding hands. Very smooth. I didn't have the courage to pull my hand from his, so I chose to let it go. Besides, I think a part of me was really enjoying being this close to Castle.

"I just wanted to let you know that I, too, can party. I've had my crazy days, so don't you start thinking that-" wow, that must have really hurt his ego.

I had to cut him off. "I didn't mean that. I was just saying that I'm okay if it gets too much for you. It gets too much to a lot of people, even me sometimes. So, don't worry. You don't have anything to prove here."

That's when we got to my car, I unlocked the door and, before going in, I said "I'm just glad I've been elected to show you a good time. You won't regret it."

Then I could see myself smiling like some kind of idiot. And Rick returned the smile, pulling in closer. He grabbed my neck, put his hand on my waist and touched his lips to mine.

I didn't know what was going on until I didn't need to. It was over, all too soon. It was one of those brief kisses, like he didn't want to try too much and get rejected, or didn't want to push any boundaries.

I did avoid his kiss just the other day, so it's pretty understandable that he would try to be more careful the next time.

But damn, I wanted it to be longer. A much longer kiss.

Even from that simple touch of his lips to mine, I could feel that Castle was good at that. At the whole kissing thing. And he told me the other day that _I_ was good at it. We made a good team.

After that way-too-short kiss, I watched him smile at me once again and say "see you on Saturday."

Then he turned away and left, just as easily as he came. And I found myself staring at his faded silhouette, until I could finally get in the car and start driving to work.

 **AN: Next chapter, the party. Reviews?!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks again so much for your reviews, they really do keep me going. I'm sorry it's been a week without any chapters posted, but I've been busier now. Still, I'll try to make sure we get 2 chapters a week. Also, I've been thinking: do you think I should change the rating from M to T? Please let me know when you review! And enjoy the party :)**

Disclaimer: I wish.

It was Saturday afternoon when I received a text from Castle. He said "Beckett, what's the address for the party tonight?" and that was it. No "what's up?" or "how are you?". None of that, just a pretty straightforward question. So I texted him the address, just like that, nothing else. Pretty straightforward too.

But then again, it was almost time to get ready and we hadn't talked any arrangements yet. Like where we'd be meeting, or if I was going to pick him up – which I'm assuming, by his question, wouldn't happen. Still, we needed to figure things out.

Another thing I felt was slightly weird was the fact that he hadn't asked me anything about the party at all. Well, maybe a few things, but not details, as I imagined his curious mind would be harassing me with. But nope.

A few minutes later, I got another text from him: "Thanks. I'll come pick you up at 8."

So… He didn't _ask_ if I wanted a ride, or so much as offered it. Castle just assumed I'd be going with him, and told me so. I kinda liked that, a little bit? He's always been such a gentleman with me and it felt nice to not be romanced so much all the time. I don't know.

I then glanced at my watch to see it was 7PM and that left me only one hour to get ready. Like party ready. And party ready took me a while longer than just putting on an outfit for "going-to-work" ready. Ah. I didn't text him back to let him know I got the message, I simply went to the shower, thinking about what to wear and how the hell to get makeup and hair done, find a matching purse, shoes and jewelry.

After I got out of the shower, I dried my hair in 10 minutes and put on a short red dress that hugged my body perfectly. It was vivid red, incredibly sexy and still not slutty, but walking along those lines. I felt great, strong and confident wearing it.

I then put my hair up while I grabbed my matching red MAC lipstick. After applying it, I put on my eyeliner and mascara. They highlighted my eyes in an amazing way.

It was 7:55PM when I heard my mom yelling my name. I heard the sound that my heels made as I went down the stairs to find Castle – Castle? – talking to my mom, charming as always, smiling and holding a rose in his left hand. What. The. Fuck.

"Hey, um," I smiled, slightly confused at the sight in front of me. My mom still had her work clothes on, and dad wasn't home. He was either working from his office or at the law firm still.

I walked towards Castle and accepted the rose he handed me, saying thanks.

He grinned foolishly. "You look beautiful."

Well, this sure was damn awkward. My mom was looking at us and not saying anything, but not leaving us alone either. Thanks, mom. Always so helpful.

I stared at her for a few seconds until she finally got the _obvious_ hint. "Right. I'm gonna… Your dad is probably- he um, needs me." And turned away.

Not two seconds later, I heard her say "Have fun!"

I made my way to the kitchen to find a slim vase in which I could fit the rose. Castle followed me when I gestured for him to come.

Weird thing was, most people got bouquets. Actually, I didn't get anything usually, just a text or a honk which indicated that I had to leave. But that's not rude or anything, it's in fact very common. I didn't mind it at all.

Still, a rose. Only one. I found that a little bit odd.

"I didn't want to be overwhelming. Or cliché. So I got you only one rose." He said, as if reading my mind.

"Ha, right. I appreciate it." I then washed my hands in the sink and walked towards the door. "You ready to party with me tonight?"

He came up behind me and I opened the door for us to leave the house.

I lived in a house, not an apartment, which was a little unusual when it comes to a city such as New York. Still, it was an old house that belong to my grandparents on my mother's side and we've lived there for a long time. It was home. Some little ways away from all the crowd and noises; almost as if the countryside of New York city, if that existed. That's why I was thankful to have a car of my own, since everything was on the opposite side of town – even my job – and I couldn't possibly walk anywhere.

I guess I _could_ take the subway or the bus, or even a cab. But having my own car for 2 years gave me a strong sense of independence which I very much appreciated.

"You have no idea," he replied. Castle had a common car, one of the usual ones you see on the streets. Nothing special, but more expensive than mine, for sure.

He was 20 something; he probably paid for it with his own money.

He led me the way in and I made myself comfortable sitting next to him. Fuck, he looked handsome. Scratch that; he gave the word handsome a new meaning. He was wearing a dark blue shirt, almost black, with long sleeves and a little more sophisticated pair of pants. I don't know how, but he managed to make his hair look even better and I just wanted to kiss him.

I watched him start the car and shift it to reverse, driving out of my drive way and into the street. "So, do we go straight to the party from here?"

I grabbed my phone out of purse to check 3 new texts on the group chat. All three of them came from Maddi, saying that she had already gotten there and was going to get some things to drink.

"Um, yeah. Did you wanna go anywhere else first?" I asked. It was, after all, his car, and if he wanted to stop somewhere, we should do it.

Castle shook his head. "Nope. Just making sure I'm keeping up with the Kate Beckett party schedule."

I smirked at that. "You're doing just fine so far."

"One would almost think you're implying something. Like that I can't handle your crazy partying." I watched him run his hand through his hair, as if to fix it. There was _nothing_ to fix.

I raised one eyebrow at that. "That's why you're here, isn't it? To prove me wrong?"

He made a long pause. "Exactly."

"So, uh, your friends. Your male friends. How protective of you are they?" Castle asked. Weird kinda question. We were not in a relationship, not dating, so this question was just fucking weird.

"My _male_ friends? Well, doesn't that scream sexist."

He seemed a bit overwhelmed and concerned. "That's not what I meant. It's just-"

I waved him off. "God, Castle, chill out. You gonna be like this all night?" I teased.

"First of, that was _mean_. Secondly, I only asked because I wanted to be prepared."

I had been looking out the window, but then I moved my head to stare at his figure. "Prepared for what? Listen, the worst that could happen is the guys asking you a couple questions. But not even that is going to happen, because we're not in a relationship. We're just having fun, and I'll tell them that."

He swallowed hard.

Well, that's right, though. What were we? People that kissed at times and went out together eventually to have fun. We hadn't even had sex. What's the rush in calling this anything? What's with the labels?

"Right," he affirmed.

I didn't say anything to that, but he seemed a bit disappointed. Or maybe I was imagining things.

We spent a whole minute in silence until I pointed at the club. "This is the one."

He parked somewhere nearby and we left the car, walking side by side, hands brushing against one another, but none of us made the move to hold hands. He was probably wounded by my affirmation and didn't want to be rejected. And honestly, it was probably for the best. If we walked in holding hands, it would certainly give my friends a reason to make fun of me all night long.

There was a line at the entrance, where they were checking IDs and letting people in. Luckily, I had high heels on, red lipstick and everything that made me look older, so that shouldn't be a problem. Of course, I carried with me my very useful document – the fake ID.

I looked at Castle, who seemed awfully quiet suddenly. "You do not seem excited enough for someone who's about to have the best night of their lives."

That made him chuckle. "You, however, seem awfully confident."

"I promised you a good time, so you're getting a good time. Just follow my lead here tonight and you will enjoy it very much."

We walked up a few steps, we were close to being the next ones.

"Wild things, huh?" He asked, curiously.

I leaned in close to his ear and murmured "so wild that I don't know why you came driving."

Really, though, rookie mistake. One does not go to a party driving a car. That is actually why, at clubs like this, the parking spots are always empty. Nobody come here driving if they want to drink alcohol. Usually, people take cabs.

As our documents were required, I handed my ID to the guard, who nodded, gave it back, and let me in. I was one of the regular customers, so he probably remembers me from other nights.

Rick got in at the same time I did and walked next to me. "Do you come here much?"

"If you're trying to hit on me, that is extremely poor of you. Thought you'd have better lines." I smirked playfully.

He grinned. So – oh _so_ sexy. "Believe me, Beckett, you will know when I'm hitting on you. It was an innocent question."

"I do like it here. We usually come here when we don't find any other clubs to go to, or when we miss this one. The last time I came here was four months ago, so I'd say I used to come here more." I walked to the bar and saw Castle coming behind me.

"One shot of vodka." I said, asking for the bartender to get my drink.

Castle waited for him to get me my drink and asked for whiskey.

The bartender came with my drink and then his, handing them to us. Rick thanked for us both.

"I got a text from Maddi, she's waiting for us by the bathroom," I announced, walking that way.

"Ah. Meeting the friends." He smiled, taking a sip from his drink.

I saw my friends by the bathroom, all of them holding their drinks, and said hi.

"Guys, this is Castle; Castle, these are the guys." I introduced them, very poorly. "This is Maddi; Stephen, her boyfriend; Bob, Brianna, Amanda, George, Anne."

He grinned. "Nice to meet you."

Bob, a tall dark-haired 23-year-old, chuckled. "Your boyfriend, Becks?"

Of course, those were my friends. Sure, I was friends with people who would just straight out embarrass me, but I guess I'd actually gotten kinda used to it. So it didn't bother me that much anymore.

"No, I just offered to show him a good time. He doesn't do our partying so much." I said, smiling at Castle in (some sort of) support.

I heard Amanda say, in response, "She sure knows how to show a guy a good time."

Fuck. I wanted to kill her.

But I took the higher road and pretended I hadn't heard that, hoping that Castle hadn't.

I looked at Castle and grabbed his hand, leading us to the dance floor, where the music was blasting. Good music, too; electronic.

And a really good DJ so far.

"Let's dance," I smiled at him and we left the rest of my friends talking by the bathrooms. Some of them looked high as fuck and it was only 9PM. This night was going to be epic.

Castle and I started dancing as soon as we hit the dance floor. I moved my arms up and down; my body following the rhythm of the songs. His body moved against mine, dancing in a very charming way. He was good at this.

I drank some of my vodka and saw him looking at me, also drinking his shot of whiskey. We kept dancing until I saw Brianna and George come to dance next to us.

"Where is everyone else?" I asked, yelling for them to hear me.

Brianna yelled back. "In the bathroom. Steve's got some good stuff." She smiled.

I drank the last of my vodka and grabbed Castle's hand. He seemed a bit shocked, but followed me anyway.

"Beckett, what are you doing?" he asked.

I smiled softly. "Relax. You just follow my lead, okay?"

He drank the last bit of his shot of whiskey and set his cup on the counter, moving to follow me into the bathroom.

I walked in and found Maddi smoking pot and Stephen popping a pill in his mouth.

Castle followed me in and looked shocked for a second. As if "wow, you do this?".

Still, he did come, and I wasn't planning on using any of the "good stuff", as Brianna mentioned it. It seemed a bit too heavy for me and I didn't want to get addicted to anything.

I looked at Maddi and grabbed the joint she'd been smoking. "Want some?" I offered it to Castle, who said yes.

I put it in my mouth and suck it all in. I felt something different, though, not the usual pot we smoked at parties. It seemed like there was more to it…

"Shit, Maddi, did you lace this with cocaine?" I asked.

She nodded and got it from my hand to smoke more.

"Still want it? It's very strong." I asked. I was _not_ going to make Castle feel uncomfortable or as if he had to smoke anything just because I was.

"Nope, I'm good." He looked at his reflection on the mirror and pretended not to care about all the drug use that was going on in the bathroom. Which, by the way, was unisex.

I took the joint from Maddi's hand and put it in my mouth for the last time. I then gave it back to her and decided that, no matter how good it was, I didn't want to risk it anymore.

I'd only ever used cocaine three other times and I was afraid to get addicted to it.

"Thanks. This is great stuff," I complimented. "Anyways, we're heading back to dance. You wanna come with?"

She shook her head and Stephen offered us some of his ecstasy, which I politely said no to.

Castle got out of the bathroom and waited for me to follow him.

"So, what now?" He asked.

"Now, we get more drinks. And then we dance." I grinned at him, going to the bar and getting myself another shot of vodka.

He requested another shot of whiskey and we went back to the dance floor.

Good electronic music was playing and I felt so free, right there, stuck inside a club, with my body pressed against his. I really wanted to kiss him, for a long time now. Ever since he picked me up. But more than that, I wanted him to kiss me.

Maybe I was already a bit high? With all the vodka combined with the marijuana and cocaine. Actually, let's be honest, it was nothing. I hardly even smoked it.

Maybe I just genuinely wanted him. Yeah. That was probably the right answer.

That was when I looked at him, my body still pressed against his and the loud electronic music still playing, that I felt him look back at me with dark eyes.

Like he wanted me, lusted after me and wanted so desperately to kiss me. And he stared at my lips so intensively that… shit. Thank God that he finally gave in to these feelings and pressed his lips against mine roughly. I grabbed his back with my unoccupied hand and pushed him closer, opening my mouth to give him access to my tongue. He got the message and brought his tongue out to dance with mine, just like our bodies had been dancing with each other a few minutes earlier. It was intense.

I never wanted it to stop. "God, you're so fucking hot," I said, when we broke the kiss for air.

Castle seemed amused at me. "Ah, you're getting goofy again. I like that." He now put both his hands around my waist and brought me closer to him, right there, in the middle of the dance floor, Bob and George looking at us.

Where had he put his drink anyway? I finished my second shot of vodka determinedly to have both my hands available. I wanted to touch him. I drank it all and set it on a table next to us. I then put my hands around his neck and closed my eyes, moving my mouth softly against his.

I guess Rick must have liked kissing me – and the feeling was mutual – because he turned what was meant to be a soft kiss into a heated one very fast. All because of the way he worked with his tongue.

I too know how to get him hot for me, though. I set my teeth on his bottom lip and bit on it hard, dragging him closer to me. I heard a moan escape from his lips.

"Fuck, Kate, don't do this to me here," he said, a sexy whisper coming from his rich throat.

That was, really, a good looking throat. I realized that and decided to kiss him there too. That's when he interrupted me, "Beckett, I think we should stop."

Oh but he didn't sound like he wanted me to stop. And I didn't want that either. "Why?" I almost _whined_.

He laughed slightly. "Because of all the PDA we're giving those people. I don't think it's very smart to do any of that here tonight."

"Any of that? So like… no more kissing here tonight?" I asked, biting on my lower lip.

Castle came closer to me and put his hand around my waist – almost on my ass, but sadly, not there – and whispered in my ear. "Maybe I should rephrase that. A _lot_ of kissing here tonight."

I grinned widely and watched him put his lips on mine, and damn, that's all I really wanted to do. He was so good to spend time with, and I felt so lost most of the time coming to parties with my friends, looking for nothing but meaningless sexual interactions.

I was really fond of Castle right now. Of having fun with him. And I was glad he was so fun to be around, didn't demand much from me sexually, just wanted to romance and dance. I mean, really, a rose? This was not even a first date or anything of the sort. We were going out with my friends, for God's sake, and the guy brought me a damn rose.

It was a cute gesture, I loved it. But of course, I didn't want to admit to that. Or maybe I did but didn't know how to do it and not expect anything.

I was actually really starting to like Castle that night, maybe even more than our coffee dates and texts messages. I was feeling extremely comfortable around him and he didn't pressure me to do anything I didn't feel like doing. He was a great man.

Little did I know that, by the end of the party, I would think a lot more of him than just that.

But yeah, the fact that by now I'd spent much more time with a guy than with my friends meant a lot to me. Because I promised I'd show him a good time, but now I kept thinking… I guess he was the one showing me.

 **AN: This party is far from over! Castle and Beckett are still going to have a lot of fun on the next chapter, so make sure you read it. Review? Rating's M or T? Thanks for your continuous support :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thanks so much for your continuous support! I hope you enjoy the second part of the party. And remember that I still have a lot planned for this fanfiction. So, once again, far from over. Oh, and thanks for answering about the rating. I am changing it to T! :)**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned Castle, Stana Katic would act on every single episode.**

"Hey, what did you get?" I asked Castle when I saw him coming back from the bar with two cups of something transparent. Probably vodka.

He handed me a cup. "Water."

I looked at him, completely dumbfounded. What the hell, man? Water?

"It's getting late and I think we both need to sober up a little. Me, especially. I still have to drive."

Ok, so that was weird?

"I have never been to a party with someone who thinks there's something wrong with being _not_ sober," I pointed out, a little bitchy. I don't think I would have normally said that to him, but…

He took long sips of his cup and I simply looked at him, waiting for an answer.

"I'm not saying there's something wrong with being drunk. I just don't think it goes well with um, you know, me driving you home and you getting home drunk to your parents."

That's true. And very mature. I didn't usually go home drunk; my parents didn't see me like that very often. I tried my best to keep them from it, even though I know they know. Most nights, I had sleepovers at Maddi's, Brianna's, someone… Or I would drink a lot of water and/or try to sleep off some of the drugs before getting home.

I nodded and started drinking the water he'd brought me, hearing nothing but the music.

"So, are you spending the summer with your parents?"

Oh, no. Just living with them. Ever since I was born. Because I'm actually 18 and still going to college, not quite 22 and enjoying my lovely summer vacation from NYU.

"Something like that," I chose to say. I then grabbed him by the hand and whispered "come with me."

Rick asked me where we were going, but I didn't want to say anything until we got there. It was a hidden spot at the club that me and my friends found one day. It was like a dark room in the back of the it that was constantly closed, but not locked. Ever since we found it, we brought our "dates" to have a bit more of a private time with them.

"Beckett, you should really not-" he started saying, as we passed the bathroom. He probably thought I was going in there to get anything else? No, Rick. Not happening.

I led him to my secret place and smirked at his confused expression.

"Relax. It's my favorite hideaway that I'm showing you."

He grabbed my hand and opened the door. "Beckett, what is this place?"

He wasn't mad at me or anything like that, just really curious. I would want to know, too.

I went in and felt him following me. It was incredibly dark, so I grabbed my phone to use its flashlight, just to make sure we were the only ones there.

"It used to be a place where they had free drinks every Thursday night and only VIP people could come. You had to have a membership of the club or something in order to get access to it, but that was ages ago. I heard about it from a friend."

Castle kept looking around, his eyes following every shadow the flashlight made and not meeting my eyes. "Why did it not work?"

"Other clubs opened up nearby and they just didn't have as many people join theirs anymore. The whole thing just kinda got old," I shrugged.

He grabbed his cup of water and drank it all, throwing it on the floor.

Even just that simple movement. Damn. So hot.

"Why would you bring me to an old dark room, Beckett?"

It was my turn to smirk. "I think you know."

I drank some of my water and threw the cup on the floor, just like he did. Except it still had some water in it. Oh well.

I then leaned closer to him and put my hands around his waist, watching his – hot – smile and pressed my lips against his. He pushed his tongue roughly into my mouth, and I happily gave him access to it. So happily.

I started moaning – what. So soon. We'd just started kissing and already I could feel the heat between us.

I broke our kiss because I wanted to turn the flashlight off. In case somebody came in.

"Let me-" I started talking, but got interrupted by his mouth on mine again. And no, I did not pull away or show, in any way, that we should stop.

It wasn't until Castle moved his lips to my neck that I asked him to stop. "Cas- Castle, let me turn the flashlight off."

I searched for my phone to see I had set it on the floor when I turned the flashlight on. "Beckett, we should get going."

I giggled. "Now's not the time to play hard to get, Castle. Not the time." I moved my lips to his neck and started sucking on it.

He pushed me away softly. "I don't think I would be able to stop. And I don't wanna do that like this."

I sighed. "Like what?"

"Drunk, and you're obviously high. You're fucking giggling all the time and I think- I think this should wait. Another day."

I felt rejected. It wasn't good.

"Let me get you more water and then we'll sit down a while before I can get you a cab."

I laughed. "Thought you were driving me home."

He rubbed his hands through his hair. "I obviously have no idea what I'm saying."

"I got the feeling you didn't have fun with me." I said, blunt. Just like that, out of nowhere, honest.

He opened the door for us to leave and looked surprised at me. Like, "why would you say that" kind of look. But then I walked out as we were headed to get more water bottles and saw Maddi on the floor, completely passed out.

"Stephen!" I screamed, looking for him. Rick stared at me in absolute confusion. He didn't know what to do. Probably never had a friend pass out at a party because of drug use. I honestly wish I could say the same.

As a much more experienced person in the field, I ran to the bathroom to find Stephen smiling at the mirror, obviously not in good shape to know what the hell happened to Madison.

"Maddi's passed out on the floor, thought you'd be of some help, I'm clearly mistaken." I said, nervously, and ran out of the bathroom, not waiting for High Stephen to give me a hand.

I then found Rick trying to wake her up. He had grabbed a few bottles of water and shoved some of it down Maddi's throat, an apparently very effective method. Not three seconds later, I saw her wake up and spit water everywhere.

"Hey, um, thanks." I said, surprised, but smiling at him.

He handed Maddi a bottle of water and saw her hold onto it. "No problem," and gave me a bottle of water.

"The sooner you drink that, the sooner you get home." He said.

I raised my eyebrows. "Don't be thinking you're the only person I can get a ride with."

Just to show him who's boss.

Still, I accepted the bottle of water and started drinking it, because I did want a ride with him.

"Oh, you know what? I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that and suggest that we go out for coffee tomorrow afternoon. After we wake up."

I took a long sip of water before saying. "That could be arranged."

I looked at Maddi and helped her up, telling her where Stephen was. And strongly advising her to go home right then.

"Will it, though?" Castle asked.

I looked at him. "Sorry?"

"Will it be arranged?"

I ran my hands through my hair and tried to play it cool. "Sure."

He started laughing and stood next to me. I looked at him and he kissed me.

Soft and long, not quite our type. If we had a type. I don't know, I did like soft and long.

"You keep playing it cool, Beckett, but I know you're into me."

What do you even say. To a man like Richard Castle. When he looks at you. Like that.

"Whatever you say, Castle." But I smirked at him and oh, I just wanted him. All to myself. Too bad he said no… Actually, I felt better that way. Knowing that he wanted to slow things down. But that probably meant he wanted us to be in a relationship.

Well, if he did, then that sucked. Because I'd pretty much just told him earlier that night that we were just having fun. I hope he's okay with that, because that's certainly as far as I can think of today.

Three hundred thoughts and four bottles of water later, he looked at me and said "you ready to go?"

"Are we taking your car?" I asked, meeting his eyes.

He shrugged. "I guess we'll have to. I wish I could come get it later, but I don't think it's very safe to leave my car in this neighborhood."

I nodded. "Then let's get going." I started walking outside the club, only to have my arm pulled in by Castle.

"Don't you wanna make sure Madison gets home safe? Maybe we could give her a ride-"

Wow. How very considerate of this guy that I'd met less than two weeks ago to think about my friend.

"I got a text from her saying that she'd made it home okay. Stephen drove her there not too long ago." I smiled, nonetheless, at his thoughtfulness.

Rick grabbed my hand and we walked towards his car, just like that, holding hands. "That was very impressive, what you did there." I told him.

Castle looked confused as he opened the door to get in his car.

"You know, getting Maddi up just using water. So simple, and yet, we don't usually-" I started.

"Let me stop you right there, Beckett," he buckled his seatbelt in and I did the same. "If you think _that_ was impressive, I can't wait to show you what really impressive is like."

And I looked at his face to see him smirking like a 5-year-old who had his first bite of chocolate.

"Don't you sound so confident. I was simply complimenting your technique, not exactly your personality." I said, trying to stop a smile that couldn't be stopped.

Rick started driving out of the club area and into less sketchy neighborhoods. "See, that doesn't matter to me. It's all really the same."

I loved spending time with him, I found out. He was so confident and sure of himself, and the fact that a person like that liked me just- made me feel a little more confident and sure of myself. And the fact that he was handsome helped a bit, I couldn't help but acknowledge that.

"So, um. Do you feel better? I mean, soberer?" He asked, awkwardly but concerned.

I nodded. "I am sober. Too sober, actually."

Rick started laughing. "That's not what I meant at all. You, Kate Beckett, are _not_ sober. You won't be sober for a few hours. I meant do you feel sober _er_? Or less drunk?"

I grabbed a strand of hair and looked out the window. His driving was soothing, and I felt almost tired. Castle was a very good driver. I had to remember that. Could come in handy.

"I guess, I'm- I don't- Why do you ask?" I couldn't understand why that mattered so much. Or why he would ask, like, really.

"I wanted to know if you feel comfortable with going home to your parents like this."

I giggled. He was too sweet and too concerned for his own good. Other men would just drop me off, hell, my _friends_ would just drop me off and not ask any of that. Because it wasn't a big deal. We all had our ways to handle our parents. It never came up, we never shared that much information.

"I'm fine. I've done worse than what we did here tonight, so I think I'll be okay."

He stopped at a semaphore. "Right," and nothing.

"Castle, I know what to do. My mom and dad will be okay. I just- Sorry, but- Honestly, why do you ask?"

"I just told you. Wanted to make sure you didn't get in trouble because you went out with me." He shrugged and ran his free hand through his hair.

I looked puzzled. I know I did, but how else was I supposed to look?

"Ok, that's insane. What part of 'I do this almost every single weekend' did you miss?" I laughed, because, seriously. "If anything, you're good for me. So don't let your pretty little head worry about shit like that."

He smirked. Almost chuckled.

"What?" I had to ask.

"You called me pretty," he answered.

I couldn't miss the joke. I had to say it. "Also called you little."

His lips formed a perfect O shape. He looked very surprised by my witty remark. Oh I love teasing Castle. Yep, it's true. One of my favorite pastimes.

"Katherine Beckett, you are wrong on so many levels. You'll find out soon enough." That was his comeback.

"That's it? All you have to say?" I raised an eyebrow.

He got into my street and smirked. "I'm going more with the showing than the saying. So yeah."

He started driving slowly towards my house and that's when I realized- I didn't want this night to end. Not just yet. I wanted to spend a little more time with him before I had to wake up and figure out college housing, check my schedule to work at the library for the week and all of those everyday things. I wanted more time.

"Hey, wanna get ice cream?" I asked, suddenly.

He stopped the car right in front of my house. "Sure. When?"

Yep. So stupid of me… He was probably tired and relieved. But still, I had to ask.

"Um, now. What do you say?" I checked my watch: 4:20AM.

Castle started driving up the car and that was my answer. "I'm afraid you'll blow me off tomorrow for coffee because you'll be too tired-"

I opened my mouth to protest, but he was faster.

"But there's no time like the present."

I smiled and stared at him. "I like the way you think."

So he drove us to Wendy's. I know, not exactly the healthiest place to go, but we wanted ice cream and it was opened. At 4:20AM. So yeah, we were a bit short on options and Wendy's was close enough to my house that it wouldn't take us too long to get there and far enough that we could have privacy.

When we got there, I asked him not to get out of the car. I pretty much said "judge all you want, but I am _not_ leaving the car looking like a walking mess." He said all his usual crap, complimenting me, but I didn't care. I didn't feel good enough to be walking around the city. Or good enough to be near him, but he didn't need to know that. Besides, I wanted to be around him more than not, and that was all that mattered at the moment.

"So, drive-thru?" He asked, making sure, for the last time.

I nodded. "Yes."

He asked for two Frosties and we waited in the car for them. When it was time to pay, he did, once again, not accept my credit card and didn't offer an explanation. Just. Not letting me pay. For anything.

Which is usually good, usually sweet. But he was not my boyfriend, and as far as he knows, I'm a 22-year-old who's in college studying heavens knows what and working at a library. So I had my own money. May not be enough to be buying a car like his, but he wasn't rich either.

"When are you going to let me pay for anything?" I asked, licking my Frosty spoon all the way. He drove the car up around my house – damn – and it made me realize that after we were done eating, I'd be going in.

Castle looked at me. "I don't know. You want to pay for coffee tomorrow?"

I shrugged. "Yeah."

"Ok then," he ate a little of his ice cream and we were both in silence.

Just like that, he'd dropped the subject and I honestly didn't feel the exasperating need to bring it up again. I just wanted to even us a little.

"So, um, when do you go back to college?" He asked.

No. I didn't want to talk about that! I didn't want to lie to him again, because it was not going back, it was more like starting. And I was nervous about it myself, being a freshman in NYU. I didn't want a reminder of that.

"Soon," I replied. There goes the worst answer anyone can get. "But that's not what I want to talk about. I wanna know how your book's coming along."

He smiled. Like he thought "damn, I think she cares."

Well, unfortunately, I might.

"I don't want to brag, but I will. It's inevitable. So, I've received great feedback from the editors and it should be on the shelves in no time. Like, in the next month."

I finished my Frosty and looked at him in amazement. "That's fantastic, Castle! I didn't know you'd gotten that far already."

He smiled softly. "Well, I guess I did."

I checked my watch to see that it was 4:50AM already and I had to get going. And by get going I meant I had to get out of his car and into my house. Especially if he wanted me to be up to go buy him coffee the next day.

"I think I should get going. Sorry, I do want to hear about your book, but-" I started.

Rick shook his head. "I get it. We can talk more about it at coffee tomorrow."

I smiled, finally looking at his eyes.

"The coffee _you're_ buying me." He said.

I smirked at his silly look. "God, you're such an ass."

Castle laughed, grabbed the hand I had sitting on my lap and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I had a great time tonight. I wanted to make sure you knew that."

Right, so he was mentioning my earlier comment about him. When I said I got the feeling he wasn't having fun with me. All because he wanted to keep his boy parts away tonight. Or something like that.

I smiled, pretending I wasn't at all surprised. "Right back at you."

Castle grabbed my face and pulled it close to his, joining our lips together and kissing me softly. Just a soft, nice goodnight kiss. A very good, though innocent, one.

But it was over too soon and I had to get going. Damn.

Still, if I got lucky enough to wake up before 4PM, I'd take him out to get coffee and cure our hangovers.

I then left his car, got inside the house and couldn't stop thinking about how fast I liked Castle. With other people, it usually took a longer time to start liking them, but with Castle… Not two weeks, and already, I liked him. Maybe not enough for a long term thing, but still okay for now.

And that's all that really mattered right? That it's okay for now?

No. Because I was going to college in a week and he didn't even know my age. And when I told him that, I'm pretty sure we would never see each other gain.

 **AN: Review? Please? :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Thanks again for your support and reviews. So sorry for grammar or spelling mistakes! I hope you like reading this as much as I like writing it :)**

 **Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own the show.**

Three-thirty. 3:30PM. That was the time I got a phone call from Castle, waking me up, asking about coffee. I was so hungover that when I picked up my phone from the nightstand and saw his name on the screen, I wanted so desperately not to pick it up. Just let it ring for another five or six hours so I could catch up on my sleep.

Still, I fought the urge to do just that and picked it up instead.

"Hello," I said.

"Why, I hope I didn't wake you." He could probably tell that he did, judging by my deep, sleepy voice.

I huffed. "Yeah, well, ya did." I said as I rubbed my hands against my face and grabbed the cup of water that stood on my nightstand, drinking it.

"And to redeem myself, I thought we could go get some coffee. Maybe cure our hangovers together?" Castle suggested.

I sighed, getting up from bed and going towards the bathroom cabinet to get some aspirin. "I don't know. I'm kind of still waking up and I don't-"

"I thought you'd say that. Turns out, Katherine Beckett, I'm way ahead of you. I got us both coffee and I'm right outside your door."

Fuck. No. I'd just woken up and I definitely didn't want him to see me like this. Should I throw on some makeup, a stay in dress and call it a day? Or maybe I should shower.

I could, except… I'd just looked out the window and he was standing right there.

"Kate? Are you there?" He asked, after a long pause.

I started looking around, not sure what to do, until it hit me.

"Yep, I'm here. Listen, I literally just got up and still have a few things to do upstairs, but you can get in and make yourself comfortable, kay?" I asked in a rush.

Castle argued. "If you're too busy, I can just leave the coffee and then we'll-"

Yep, probably a better idea. Actually, a much better idea, much more rational.

Except…

"No, no, it's no problem. I won't take long." I promised, hanging up the phone, running to my mother's office and knocking on her door.

"Come in," she easily replied.

"Mom, I need you to do me a favor." I said, trying really hard. I knew she'd be pissed about the time I got home last night and the time I woke up and everything in between.

She didn't look at me, kept glancing at her files. "Oh, Katherine Beckett, you're in no position to ask me for a favor. Not after-"

"Mom," I interrupted. I knew I was in trouble, but Rick was waiting. "I'm sorry, I'll do anything you want, but please, do this for me now. It's really not a big deal, but I need you to help me."

I was ready for a lecture about how 'this is not living', and 'you're wasting your potential', just not right then.

"God, Katie, what is it?"

"Can you go downstairs and answer the door? Castle's waiting and I can't exactly," I said, pointing to my outfit "um, talk to him like this."

She rolled her eyes, still fucking pissed at me, but she had a big heart. I knew she'd give in. "I'll entertain the man."

I smiled.

At that, she said, "only because I like him, Katherine. We're not done here."

I nodded. "Thanks, mom."

I watched her get up from her chair and get out of the office, leaving me to it.

"Oh, and, mom?" I asked and saw her turn around to face me.

"Can you maybe not tell him anything about me? Like how old I am or what I'm doing in college, or the fact that this is my freshman year…" I was definitely embarrassed. And probably getting a lecture on that as well.

"Katherine, I can't believe you're lying to the man. That is not how I raised you. We need to talk, honey. You can't-"

I nodded frantically. "Yes, yes, I know. Mom, we will talk tonight, I promise. Just, will you get the door?"

She rolled her eyes once more and this time, made it to the door. I ran to my bedroom and looked through my closet to find a nice pair of white shorts and a black t-shirt that I very much enjoyed. It was a black long T-shirt that said "Let's be young" in white letters and was open back. I quickly went to the bathroom and stripped out of my clothes.

I then checked myself on the mirror, brushed my teeth, applied a little bit of mascara and a nude lipstick. Not too over the top, very basic look. I decided to put my hair on a pony-tail just so I wouldn't have to deal with it too much.

I put on the outfit I'd chosen and grabbed a pair of comfortable black flip-flops – I was home, after all – and went down the stairs to find my mom and Rick chatting.

"Hey, Castle." I said, casually, and he got up from the chair he'd been sitting on to kiss my left cheek softly and hand me the cup of coffee.

"It's not from our usual place, thought you might like this one too." He said. But all I could really focus on was the green t-shirt and jeans he was wearing. It was also very basic, but in a charming kind of way. It was such a nice shade of green and so casual. He looked comfortable.

"Well, I have some work to do. But it was nice to see you again, Rick." I heard my mom say and give him a nice smile.

He smiled charmingly. "The pleasure was all mine, Mrs. Beckett."

I then watched my mother leave the room and tried Castle's new coffee.

"God, this is incredible." I said, and took another long sip. "Where did you get it from? We have to go there one day."

He smiled broadly, pleased with himself and went back to sitting where he was before. I sat next to him and enjoyed my cup of coffee eagerly.

It seriously tasted amazing.

"I made it. But we can totally go to my house if you'd like to watch me make it. See where the magic happens."

I shook my head and couldn't help but smile. "You're so cocky."

"Now, something has been on my mind ever since I saw you come down the stairs. May I ask you how, in the span of 20 minutes after you woke up, you managed to look this beautiful?" He asked, not so smoothly.

I smiled, just because I apparently couldn't stop. "Isn't it too early in the day to be flirting like this?"

He took a sip of his own coffee before answering. "It's almost 4 in the afternoon, Beckett. Besides, it's never too early to be flirting with a woman like you."

I continued smiling, but attempted to change the subject. "So, what did you and my mom talk about?"

"You mean while you went to go get pretty?"

I sighed. "Jesus, you go from 'sweet' to 'ass' so quickly, it makes my head fuzzy."

He laughed, "we talked about you. And me. She asked a couple of things about myself and I didn't get much of an opportunity to pry information about you."

I giggled, a little relieved. Good job, mom. Always having my back.

"So, um, where's your dad?" he asked nervously. As if he thought he might have to meet him today.

"He caught a case. He's at the law firm, but he'll be home in a couple of hours, I'm thinking."

He nodded.

I looked around and didn't really know what to do. This was great; he brought me coffee and we drank it in my house. But what else would we really do? I didn't feel like going out, but also... I didn't want Rick to meet my dad just yet, and by the looks of it, neither did he.

But if we went out, there were lots of things to do. We could go to a bar, for example. Or, I don't know, get another coffee somewhere else.

"So, I was thinking, um," he said, interrupting me from my loud thinking. "I've been to your home but you haven't been to mine. You might be curious."

So there was an idea.

I could go to his house; maybe eventful things would happen now that we were, finally, sober. Even if they didn't happen, it sure sounded better than having Rick meet my dad and getting introduced as a friend.

Or staying here and ending up watching Netflix and cuddling like a stupid romantic sappy couple. Not that we _were_ a couple, but the idea of the whole romantic thing was just-

"Yeah, I might be curious. I'm going out of my mind thinking what it is that you've been hiding from me all this time."

He laughed softly. I could get used to that sound.

"I'm pretty sure I told you I live with my mother. Or rather, she lives with me. Other than that, it's all pretty standard. Anything a regular 26-year-old would have in his apartment."

I shook my head. "I don't know. I wouldn't have pegged you for a regular 26-year-old though."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"I think you must have some sort of twisted habit you're keeping from me."

Very rich, coming from a girl who claimed she was 22 years old instead of 18.

"Well, do you wanna come to my place with me and check it for yourself?"

I shrugged. "We don't really have anything better to do here anyway. Unless you're interested in meeting my dad." I teased.

He opened his mouth but nothing came out for about 3 long seconds. "I'm- I mean- If you want me to-

"Castle, you're so easy. I'm teasing," I laughed.

He smiled nervously. Wow. I'd really gotten to him.

I got up from the table and grabbed my black purse that had been sitting on the kitchen counter, put my phone and my credit card in it – just in case.

"Let's go to your place," I said, grabbing his hand. We'd walked holding hands to his car, which is ridiculous when you think about it. Actually, you don't have to think about; it's just ridiculous. Walking a couple yards to his car holding hands.

We're pathetic.

As soon as I got in his car, I said. "Wait."

He looked at me. "What?"

"I should probably go meet you there. Text me the address?" I asked.

He looked very confused, as if trying to make sense of things. "I'd rather not take a cab on the way home. I can just get my car and it'll be easier."

Castle laughed, pulling out of the drive way and into the street, not bothering to listen to any further argument I might have.

"Don't be silly, Beckett. I'll take you home whenever you want." And he turned left on a street.

I didn't say anything, but didn't object either.

"So, do you have a party to go to tonight?" He asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do." I answered truthfully. I also saw a giant question mark written all over his face.

I fixed my ponytail, "but I'm not going."

Rick seemed a bit more at ease at the new information. "I thought Kate Beckett didn't miss a party," he added.

I shrugged. "I usually don't. But I'm not feeling like partying tonight. I don't know; it happens sometimes."

He nodded, accepting the information. All too well knowing that it was mostly because I was here with him, not because I didn't _feel_ like going. Still, I'm glad he didn't push it.

"So, what should I know about your mom?" I asked.

He shrugged. "She's an actress. I think I've told you that. She's pretty proud of her artistic insights and she thinks she's really good at advice. Oh, and she can be a little too much most of time. But she's a wonderful person and I wouldn't have it any other way."

That was a lot of information. A lot more than I'd given him whenever he asked me about my family members. Which hasn't happened much, but I kept avoiding the subject just because… I wanted to.

"Am I meeting her today?"

He shook his head. "Nope. She's at her boyfriend's for the weekend. Mother has quite the social life."

I laughed at his comment and felt relieved myself.

"But, um, you don't have to worry about her. We're just having fun, right?"

Oh, how it hurt to hear him say that. Not because I was expecting him to say that we were in a relationship or anything like that, but I could almost feel rejection slapping me in the face. It hurt like hell and I knew that he was just trying to make me feel the same way he did.

I didn't want to be romantically involved with Richard Castle. Well, at least not at first. So he can't blame me for saying that then, but now… I don't know. We'd only shared a few memories, but they were great ones. Not necessarily extraordinary or book material, but still pretty fucking great.

"Right," I said. "Still, I'd like to know if we'd have the apartment to ourselves."

Just so he didn't think I'd been slapped in the face too. Or that I felt the same way he did when I said that.

"So, your book. You wanted to tell me more about it last night."

He stopped at traffic lights. "Yes, it's going great. I'll get you a copy of it when it's published. Oh, and maybe throw a party."

"That's amazing," was all I had to offer.

"If you judge it good enough, you and your friends are more than welcome to come."

I laughed. "I'm sure it'll be great, Castle. You're good at parties."

It was his turn to laugh. "It's good to know that. Feel free to invite me more often."

"Maybe I will," I said.

I noticed we'd been about 8 minutes in the car when I decided to ask, "where do you live, exactly?"

He kept staring at the road, "we're really close."

Two minutes later, I saw him pull into the garage of a tall blue building. It wasn't glamorous or anything of the sort; it was simple and welcoming.

"We're here," he affirmed.

As soon as Castle parked his car and we got out, he pointed to the elevator nearby and led the way. We got in and he pressed the button 6.

"Nice building," I said.

Castle grabbed my hand onto his and gave me a soft smile. "Thanks."

When the elevator reached the 6th floor, we got out and Castle grabbed his key from his right pocket and pushed the door open.

"So, this is it," he pointed to the living room and walked to the kitchen, leaving me to follow him.

I set my purse on the kitchen counter. "Everything looks clean and pretty… Is this your mother's doing?" I teased.

He laughed and turned around to look at me. "Hardly. You haven't met her, but when you do… You'll understand why this is hilarious."

When I do. Not if, when. Ok. He was definitely hopeful that we were heading somewhere, and here I was again, doing everything wrong and lying to him about myself. Significant things like my age and what I did for a living. Sure, I worked at the library, but I was also about to start college. And Rick had already finished it. Got an English degree. Was a brilliant man. My mom loved him.

And there I was, lying to him. I couldn't-

"Shall I pour you a glass?" Castle asked as he got a bottle of wine from the kitchen cabinet and held two empty glasses in one hand.

I probably shouldn't. Absolutely should not drink any more alcohol this weekend. Especially not when I had a long conversation with my mom scheduled for later this evening. One that would mention drug use.

"Sure," I said, anyway.

He poured the liquid in both glasses, handed me one of them and headed towards the couch in the living room. I followed and did the same.

"So, tell me more about your book," I started.

Rick drank a sip of his wine before smiling at me. "What do you want to know?"

I shrugged. What _did_ I want to know? "What's it called?"

He watched me drink wine and said. "In a hail of bullets."

I raised an eyebrow. "Sounds dark."

He laughed at my reaction and interrupted. "Can I tell you something?"

"What is it?"

He shook his head and smiled at me, setting his glass on the table and grabbing mine from my hand and doing the same. "I don't want to talk about my book."

My heart stopped beating for a moment when I realized where this was going.

Of course! He brought me to his apartment because he wanted to have his way with me. Not because he was such a nice guy, but because he was a guy.

Flashes of memory occurred to me. He'd told me that he would show me he wasn't 'little'. And that he wanted to do this, but when we were sober. And this was perfect, wasn't it? An empty house, we're not drunk and we have time.

Perfect opportunity.

Still, I had to make sure. "What do you want to talk about?"

Castle surprised me, however. "You," and gave me a sexy smile.

Fair enough, we hadn't talked about me that much. Whenever he tried to start up a conversation about even the most trivial things about me, I chickened out. Completely avoided it. But fuck. What could I possibly have said to that then?

I leaned so close to him that our lips brushed but didn't meet. "How about we don't talk at all?"

And I started kissing him. He, too, was very eager to have me. It'd been a while since our last kiss and I'd been craving him for so long now, but just couldn't find the right moment.

Rick pushed his tongue into my mouth and met with mine along the way. I felt his hand on my waist and the pressure of his body against mine; he was shoving me up against the couch and I kept moaning into his mouth because of his ravishing.

That was when I decided to break from our kiss biting his bottom lip until I heard him groan. "Fuck."

I laughed at that reaction, sliding my tongue along his bottom lip to soothe it. I felt his hands clutching at my hips and my mind went completely fuzzy.

It was his turn now to break from the kiss and start an assault to my neck with his mouth. The feel of his tongue touching me in such a sensitive spot made me moan. And he took that as encouragement to keep going.

I wanted him. I wanted him desperately, but I also thought that _maybe_ , just maybe, we could have a future. And I didn't want to ruin that bit of hope by having sex with him under these circumstances – lying to him. He doesn't even know me.

I tried to keep thinking about coming clean, but his mouth kept moving from my own to my neck and I just-

If I could focus-

"Shit," I heard myself say as he touched my ass and propped me up, his tongue now moving to find mine. He kept kissing me, ravishing me, and I was in no condition to stop him. Completely at his mercy. Until when…

He stopped kissing me to look at me in the eyes, hoping to find the brightness that was on his, but I frowned.

It was time to tell him; I couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Something wrong?" Castle asked, moving a few inches further from me.

I forced a gentle smile but got up from the couch, fixing my hair and clothes. I looked at him and he was confused as fuck. Maybe doubting the fact that I wanted him, when it was so goddamn obvious. But, as much as I wanted to keep things going, I would hate myself right after it and would probably never talk to him again.

So I grabbed the glass of wine that had been sitting on the table, drank the rest of it in one gulp and said. "We need to talk."

 **AN: I know, I did that. Cliffhanger! But hey, I'll update soon. Review? Thank you so much :)  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Thank you for reviewing this story. It makes me so happy whenever I get a review from any of you! Thanks to all the guests as well for following and giving their opinion. Your support is very appreciated! Hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

 **Disclaimer: too immature to own Castle.**

I was panicking. This was it; I'd started the conversation and now was the time to break it to him. Reality. Our age difference. How different we really were in – everything. How, no matter how good this little amount of time we spent had been, it was over now. He would never want to see me again and I'd have to go home, completely upset and having my world upside down. I'd talk to my mother, she would give me life advice and her usual 'disappointed in me' talk, I'd tell her things didn't work out with Rick and she would say her infamous words: "I told you so."

Well, to be honest, she had told me. Told me not to lie, especially about small things and especially not to people I cared about. Or just people in general. Just. Be honest. This was good advice and I wish I'd been smart enough to actually take it, but…

So yeah. Back to the part where I'm standing in Castle's living room, rubbing my hands against each other nervously and tapping my foot. Not to mention he had a confused as fuck facial expression. So I just-

"I lied to you."

He looked around the house, maybe thinking I was talking to somebody else? Nope, buddy, there's just the two of us. As you pointed out. Earlier.

He stood up from the couch and came closer to me, trying to figure out what I could have possibly lied to him about, since we hadn't done that much talking.

"I'm not 22 years old. As I may have led you to believe."

Castle's expression remained the same. It was a sign for me to go on.

"I'm actually not in college… yet." And then his eyebrow rose. "I'm 18, Castle. I'm starting off my freshman year in NYU in a week. And I'm going into pre-law."

Now I could tell. He was upset. I watched as he reached for his glass of wine and drank some of it, probably buying himself some time. I figured he didn't really know what to say… I mean, what does someone say to an 18-year-old girl they've only known for two weeks or so that has been lying to them the whole time? Hell, I wouldn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry," I voiced. Only thing I could think of.

He nodded, but said nothing. For about twenty seconds, we simply stood in front of each other, avoiding any kind of eye contact, until he opened his mouth.

But said nothing.

He grabbed his phone and handed it to me. "Feel free to call yourself a cab, if you'd like."

I sighed and saw him sit down on his couch, drinking wine quietly as he watched me.

"I'm sorry, Castle, it's just-"

He shrugged. "It's fine; I get it. I've been 18 once and I know it can be fun to do that sort of thing."

Damn. I'd really fucked up. I didn't think he would care that much. I mean, yes, obviously, he would care some, but he was being a jerk right then. Maybe I did deserve it, but it didn't feel any good.

"It's not like that," I searched for his eyes. He got up from the couch and headed towards the kitchen, leaving me alone in the living room.

I decided to follow him. "I am sorry."

All he did, though, was grab the phone I'd been holding. "I'll call the taxi company for you."

I heard him start dialing and realized it was a lost cause. Maybe it was just one of those summer things, summer affairs or summer whatevers. It was good while it lasted and it was even better that we hadn't developed feelings for each other.

I went to get my purse and shoved my belongings there. He followed me outside the door saying that there would be a cab waiting downstairs any minute. All I could say was "Call me if you change your mind."

To which he nodded and complemented "Have fun at NYU. It's a great school," and I turned around to leave. Yep. Pretty much fucked it all up. And nope, no turning back.

I went into the elevator and pushed the button. What had I been thinking anyway? He was 26. It probably never would have worked, I just sped up the process. It was fun while it lasted, but damn I wished it could have lasted longer. If I'd just shut up for one more week and told him the day before going to NYU, it would've been better. Or even if I'd just waited until after sex tonight. Although that's very unethical, I thought.

I didn't know; all I knew was that maybe I shouldn't have lied to him in the first place or let this go on for so long. But. It was done now.

I got in the cab thinking about the conversation I was going to have with my mother. And how I was so _not_ in the mood to have it.

When I got home, I placed my purse and keys on the kitchen counter, staring at my mother making dinner. It was only 5:30PM. My day had started two hours ago and already, it wasn't a good one.

And, oh, fuck, I had work in the morning.

"I noticed you left home." Oh. No.

I forgot to tell her where I was going. Or that I would be going somewhere at all.

I watched my mom stop stirring the macaroni and cheese she'd been making to give me the look. It wasn't just any look; it was the "pissed off at your teenage daughter" look.

"Shit," I muttered to myself, and she gladly didn't hear it. Or else, it would've been one more thing to discuss about. "Yes, well, I didn't take long. You were busy working and I didn't want to bother you."

Lying. Again. Was it one of my specialties? I figured it could be.

I saw Mom raising an eyebrow at me. "Really, Katie? Couldn't come up with an excuse better than that?"

I scoffed. "Well, you caught me off guard. It was my best shot."

She shook her head. "You know all too well that you're supposed to tell me when you're leaving home. I thought you'd gone to another party and didn't bother to inform me."

I shrugged. "I'm not going anywhere tonight."

"Where were you?"

"I went to Castle's," I sighed.

She frowned. "I thought I saw your car parked here."

"He drove us there," I said, going to grab a few plates and cups to set the table as my mother brought the food to the table.

"Huh, I didn't hear him come in just now." Oh, mother.

We sat down and started to put the mac and cheese on our plates. "I got a cab home. Is Dad having dinner with us?"

She nodded. "Yes, he should be here any minute now."

Good, I thought, I got rid of the Castle subject.

"That's funny. Why wouldn't Rick drive you back home?"

I nearly choked on my food at this unexpected question. I thought we were done with the subject, but apparently, we were just starting.

"We had a fight."

I looked at her goggled eyes and rolled my own.

"Isn't it too early to be fighting in a relationship?" And that was my punishment. Right there. An awkward dinner conversation with my mother after having had a fight with Castle, whom, need I remind myself, I didn't have sex with. So, you know, just an overall bad day.

And that was because she hadn't lectured me yet. Mom likes to keep dinner conversation a little lighter and usually waits until we're done eating to confront me about any issues I may have.

"You're missing the point where there isn't a relationship to begin with." I kept eating, looking at my plate instead of at my oh so kind mother.

"What did the two of you fight about?" she asked, in an innocent tone.

I met her eyes. "I really don't want to talk about it."

She nodded, understandingly. "I always hated talking about the fights in which your father pissed me off."

I gave her a small smile. "I'm sure there weren't many of them anyway."

"There are more than you think, Katie," she added.

We ate in silence for another thirty seconds before Mom started talking again. "Now, let's have a happy, light topic. How are you feeling about going to college in a week?"

I huffed. "I wish I could put my feelings into words. There are so many things I've been thinking about and… It's really frustrating, actually."

She nodded. "I remember that time. Everything's new and different; exciting and scary."

"Exactly. I hope it turns out okay in the end," I said, drinking some of my water.

Mom sighed. "My baby's going to college. My only daughter is leaving me."

I laughed at that. "Don't be so dramatic, Mom. I'm sure you have to be somewhat thrilled to have me out of your hair."

She looked at me deeply. "I am happy that you're going your own way, to an amazing college, studying something your father and I appreciate so much. But I would never, in a million years, be happy to have you out of my hair."

I smirked. "So you do admit I'm a little too much work for you sometimes."

It was her turn to laugh. "Sometimes? Katie, try 'everyday'. You're a constant pain in my ass and I wouldn't have it any other way. You're a troublemaker, sweetheart, but you're also an amazing human being. I may be disappointed in you for some things, but I'm always proud of your essence."

I smiled at her.

"And I want you to remember that when we have our little chat tonight," she added.

Right.

"Why don't you just start now? I'm a little tired and would like to do some reading and relaxing before bed. I have to work in the morning."

She shook her head. "Can't. I'm waiting on your father."

Oh-kay. So Dad was a part of this as well… She must've been pissed if she thought to use resources. Not that my Mom wasn't self-sufficient in the "educating your kid" department, but I'm guessing there was probably more to the talk than I'd been expecting.

"Ok. Um, can't you do your part first and I'll have his share of the talk later?" I asked.

Once again, shook her head. "Nope. It's a two men job. You're too much for just one person to handle, Katie."

I frowned. "Yes, but it's always been just you… or just Dad. Not both of you at the same time. So I'm just wondering what changed."

That was when I heard the door open and saw my father enter the kitchen, saying hello to both me and Mom.

"Sorry, girls, I thought I'd be out of the office a little earlier." He moved to kiss Mom and then kissed my head.

"I don't know if the food's still hot, Jim, you might want to heat it up."

Dad put the food on his plate and tried it. "It's delicious as always, and it doesn't even need to be heated up."

I heard Mom chuckle and I smiled at their happiness. They were so comfortable around each other, always laughing and complimenting one another… It felt like the perfect relationship. And honestly, I looked up to them in that matter. Especially because after so many years of marriage, they still managed to look like newlyweds. Their love was ever so fresh.

I finished eating dinner and stayed put on the table, waiting for my dad to finish off. Then, we'd have our talk.

"How was work, Dad?"

He started talking. He talked about everything he did today – which was definitely a lot of things. No kidding. I was impressed by how much he'd accomplished in just one day, and he and Mom started getting in too deep of law school terms that I didn't quite understand – yet. Then, Dad finished dinner and put his plate in the dishwasher, just like we had.

"Well, I had a busy day myself. You know that Jessica Hills lawyer?" I heard Mom ask and saw Dad nodding. "She called me today about what happened yesterday at the firm. I had to start solving everything from my desk at home, since I wasn't supposed to go in today. I even thought about going in, but then again I could do it here, so…"

"Oh, that reminds me-" I heard Dad start engaging another topic, when I got up from the chair and started heading up the stairs.

"Katie, come back downstairs! We have to talk to you," I heard Dad.

I turned around and did as I was told, sitting across from my mother and father at the dinner table. I was not too welcoming or willing to have this conversation, but unlike other times, today I didn't care so much. We could talk. Whatever.

"Go on," I encouraged.

Dad was the first. "We need to talk to you about your behavior in the last few weeks. Well, actually, ever since the beginning of summer. You haven't been exactly, uh-"

"Dad, I'm on vacation. I got straight A's in school, earned a great scholarship at NYU and am currently working almost every day of the week to pay for housing and college fees. I've been just fine." I let out.

"Will you let your father finish?" I heard Mom ask in a very serious tone of voice.

"Sorry. You may continue."

"That's not what we're talking about here, Katie. We're very proud of you for all those things, it's… other things we concern about. Like the parties you go to, how often you go to them, the people you go with and what you do when you're there." Dad said and Mom nodded in confirmation.

"You don't have anything to worry about." I stated. "Now, can I go?"

Mom gave me another defying look. "Katie, we know that, for a fact, you have a fake ID. You couldn't possibly get into clubs without one. We also know that you drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes on occasion and maybe even… use something else." I avoided her eyes; couldn't possibly deny any of that.

"We only want what's best for you, but you're really making it hard on us. You left today to some guys' house and didn't tell your mother, for example. How are we supposed to trust you?" Dad said. He sounded seriously upset.

I looked at Mom as if saying "you told him?" and she was looking back at me as if saying "of course I did".

"Dad, why does it matter? So what if I want to do these things? I'm not addicted to anything; I can assure you of that. I only do it for fun, and it's only been often because I'm on vacation. I'm going to college, where I'll be studying a lot more and won't go to parties as much."

Mom looked away from me and started laughing. "God, sweetie, you're really lost. First of all, you're _underage_. Does that mean anything to you? You got a fake ID, Katherine. That's serious. You're constantly drinking. I'm- I can't watch you do these things."

Dad held Mom's hand and looked at me. "What you don't understand is that when you go to college, it only tends to get worse. There's always a party. Always. And I'm guessing you won't be missing out on many. You might become and addict and, just like that, your life is over."

I bit down a laugh. "Don't you think you're exaggerating a little, Dad?"

Dad shook his head. "You know what, Jo, I'm done for tonight. I really am tired." He stood up, kissed Mom's cheek and looked at me.

"You're grounded for the rest of the week," he announced as he left.

I was left with my Mom and indignation. "What is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"You heard him. You're really starting to wear us out." She replied.

I got up from the chair and thought about leaving and going upstairs to my bedroom. But then I stayed. "It's my last week of vacation, Mom. Then it'll be over. It's probably the last time I'll get to really hang out with Maddi."

She huffed. "That's not going to convince me. Had it been my choice, you and Madison Queller would not be acquaintances, let alone friends."

"Mom. Please don't make me stay here all week long when I could be going out with my friends."

"Hey, I got your back today with Castle, didn't I? Well, let's not make a habit of that either. I don't support your lies." She stood up and walked past me, up the stairs.

I followed her. "Don't worry about it, I followed your advice. Told him the truth. So now it's over."

She turned around and I bet she could see the hurt in my eyes as I'd said those last three sentences.

But I knew it was Mama and Daughter comforting time. It was "teaching Kate a lesson" time, and this could not get in the way. I understood that completely.

"Katherine, before you go. Here are the terms: nobody comes in the house, you don't go to anybody's house. No coffee dates, no nothing except for work all week. I need you to print off your work schedule so I can keep an eye on you."

"I can't believe this. Mom, I'm 18!"

She kissed my cheek. "Then you better start acting like it. I never thought I'd need to ground my 18-year-old. But I'm simply following your lead here. It's all a consequence of everything you do. So now I'm going to work for a bit and then go to bed. You do whatever it is you need to do, just don't forget to get me a copy of your work schedule before 10PM."

I sighed. Wow. What was that? What on earth was happening? I went up the stairs into my bedroom to get my work schedule and deliver it to Mom before I forgot – and got in more trouble.

"Here," I said, handing it her. "Take a picture of it; it's my only copy."

Mom grabbed her phone and did as she was told, quickly giving it back to me. "Perfect."

"Goodnight," I said and left her office, going to my bedroom.

I sat on my bed for a long time. Just contemplating the emptiness of the ceiling, which could easily be compared to my heart. I checked my phone, only to confirm what I already knew. No texts from Castle. Nothing. No missed calls – that would be too much. I was simply hoping for a text.

I texted Maddi and told her about the whole situation, arguments with my parents and the things they said. She told me not to worry about it too much, but that it was a shame I'd be missing a kick ass party. They got VIP tickets to an electronic music gig. Damn, that made me jealous.

But whatever. I guess that's just how it was sometimes.

I did give what my parents said some thought. They may be right. As much as I hated to admit it, I wasn't truly recognizing myself lately. I had been to parties before; they were always a good thing for me, but now it turned into something more of need than want. I didn't always want to go, but I felt like I had to. And I wasn't even addicted to anything. Maybe just the atmosphere of parties and how they seemed to be based on letting things go. So I felt like I had to go.

Not to please my friends, though. It was just because I'd been stressed out, to say the very least. I had no idea what to expect of college and, even though I had straight A's in high school, college seemed to be something else entirely.

I was going out of my mind that summer. I was working my ass off and spending a lot of it on partying related things. I'd been seeking to be lusted after a lot more as well. Looking for guys that wanted me or my body, drugs a little stronger than usual. It all made me want to feel alive. It was a good feeling.

Except…

It was temporary. I'd been lying to get my way with things. I wouldn't normally lie to my parents that way. I was upsetting them and that made me feel bad, but it just seemed like doing what pleased me was equivalent to doing the right thing.

I lost Castle. I thought about it as well.

So we weren't really friends. Or anything else. But he made me feel so much better. Being with him, around him… I didn't need much else. The problem was that it wasn't right either.

I shouldn't have to rely on somebody to that level. I should be my own anchor. I wanted that so badly.

Was it wrong, though? To want to be my own anchor and still want him?

 **AN: Too little Caskett, I know! I'm sorry, but we'll get there. Reviews? :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: So sorry on the delay for posting this chapter! It's been a crazy week; I travelled for 5 days and got completely behind on everything. But I'm back. So there you have it!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, but there's a new episode tomorrow! Yay**

I had spent long days without hearing from Castle. Obviously, I didn't expect to, as much as I'd wished to. It was only the day before moving in to college that I got a text from him. I was home alone, packing the rest of my things and shoving them in boxes while my parents were at the law firm.

It said "hey, are you home?". I, of course, was surprised to hear from him and didn't hesitate to reply right away. "Hi, I am".

I hoped to God he was coming to see me and we could sort things out. Maybe give it another shot. Still, I knew that was probably not going to happen and it was okay. Even better, maybe. Going to college, I'd have lots of opportunities to meet different people and hit it off with tons of them – I think.

So it wasn't too bad. It would be nice to hang out with him more, get to know him and all that crap, but. It's not like I was already in love with him for it to matter that much anyway.

I heard a knock on the door. Wow.

It couldn't possibly be Rick – I was completely delusional. He'd just texted me asking where I was. Or, rather, if I was home. It would've been a little stupid to come over not knowing.

Either way, I reached for the doorknob and opened the door. And yes, it was him.

He smiled awkwardly at me and said "Hi."

I smiled back, thinking over in my head that I was wearing a white tank top and black shorts. Yikes. The kind of shorts that were too short to be worn in public. The kind of tank top that you'd rather not wear when you're having someone over – not because it has too much cleavage; simply because it's plain white. It has nothing on it. It's basic. The most basic outfit in the history of outfits, and yet…

There he was, smiling awkwardly at me and wearing a navy blue shirt and jeans.

"Hi," I finally said, making way for him to come in. He did as I gestured and I kept thinking about how he was not supposed to be here right now. Mom had made things perfectly clear just the other day. Visits from friends or people that could be classified to bring me some sort of joy and happiness were not allowed.

However, he came to meet me. Without warning – I could tell Mom that and hope it works out well to me. Plus, he was interested in seeing me, even after my big screw up. Sending him away would be too much. I crossed my fingers begging that she would understand and would not have a fight with me when I was about to leave for college.

"I, um, came to say that I overreacted," Castle said, nervously, not meeting my eyes.

I shook my head. "No, you had every right to be pissed. I understand."

He looked me in the eye for a few seconds. There I was, not wearing makeup, no fancy clothes or sassy attitude. One could almost say I was vulnerable.

He nodded. So yes, we both agreed that I'd fucked up. Yay.

Awkward silence filled the room. Well, he was the one to say something, right? He was the one who came over after all.

"So, uh, what's up?"

I raised an eyebrow. What's up? Ok. I did not see that coming. "I'm cleaning things up and getting them into boxes, basically."

Castle chuckled slightly. "I remember that. I wanted to take everything with me, but my Mom wouldn't let me."

I smiled. "So that's it?"

He ran his fingers through his messy hair. "No, there's more to it. I had a box full of Star Wars stuff, plus my lightsabers-"

"No," I interrupted him. "I meant, about before. You're okay with things?"

Rick came closer to me with a softer approach. "I'm… I don't know. You lied to me and I have a hard time with that. You're younger, and that does make things a bit more difficult. We're on different stages of our lives, but I think- I think if we just do this, just try it, it could be good. It could maybe, um, even be great. It could also not work out at all, but if you're willing to give it a shot, then so am I."

I shook my head in disbelief. "I'm- Look, Rick, it's okay if you don't want to do this. Don't feel like you have to, because it's-"

He stared at me only to interrupt me- "Kate, I like you." Okay. Blunt like that. I smiled, but said nothing. "I like you and I'd really like to get to know you better."

"You're not so bad yourself," I smiled shyly.

"Really?"

"I like you too. I want to get to know you and, again, I'm sorry."

He came closer to me and put one hand on my waist. "Can I kiss you now?"

I grinned, "I hope you don't ask me that every time we kiss."

Castle put another hand on my waist, holding me closer. "Which I'm assuming will be multiple times."

And then he put his lips on mine and kissed away our sorrows. Most of the time, I tried to wrap my head around the fact that this was really happening, and that he came to see me. Not only that, but also- Damn, he was an amazing kisser. I knew that, of course, but now… I'd missed kissing him and I thought that almost a week apart made me crave his lips a lot more.

I tried to pull away, but Rick pulled my bottom lip and I moaned. After I'd finally managed to pull away from him, I smiled.

"So, is there more on the lightsaber/Star Wars story?" I asked.

Rick chuckled at the mention of it. "Yes. So, Mother was telling me not to bring so many things, as they were dull and unnecessary. The problem was, I completely ignored her advice. I brought my lightsabers and a hundred books, simply because I couldn't bear not having them with me."

"Oh my God, you can't be serious." I laughed.

He nodded. "Oh, but I am. I had so much crap that my roommate threatened to kick me out. Not that he could, technically, but I didn't wanna risk it."

I shook my head, again, in disbelief. "So what did you do?"

"I had to send a bunch of stuff back home. Mother was genuinely pissed off, but I managed."

I grinned, because, wow. Who would have thought Rick Castle would want to take so many things to college that he needed his Mom to get them back. But, then again, who knew Rick Castle would anything? I didn't know him all that much, although I was having a good time learning.

"You know what, you're actually not supposed to be here, but, since you are, why not make yourself useful?" I considered.

He frowned. "Do you want me to leave?"

"No, no, it's nothing like that-"

"Shit, it's the second time I come over without warning, I'd totally understand-"

I breathed in and out, interrupting Castle once again. "Castle, you're fine. This is rather embarrassing, but I'll have to explain it to you: my mother grounded me. Which means I'm not supposed to go out or have anyone over. And as much as I would appreciate a good phone call or text with a heads up as to when you're coming, this time it actually works to my favor. Seeing as you came without my consent, I had nothing to do with it. Besides, as soon as Mom walks through that door and watches you helping me pack, maybe it won't be so bad after all."

"Wow. Okay. I have a lot to say to that. First, Beckett, you are a smartass. You nailed this plan; it'll totally work. Second, I will be glad to help you pack, even though you didn't ask." He heard me laugh at that. "Third, I technically did text or call to give you a heads up both times, therefore, you can't hold that against me."

I huffed. "Calling and texting once you're already here doesn't count. You have to give me time to process the information, get dressed-"

Castle grinned like a fool. "I don't recall you being naked, but damn, how I wish."

I spatted his arm but got happy either way. "Come on, Castle, let's get to work."

I went to my bedroom and felt his shadow following me. As soon as we got in, I heard him say "Your bedroom is lovely."

I laughed at his attempt to be nice when he was clearly lying. "Are you kidding me? This is a disaster. Castle, I'm moving. Everything's out of place."

He shrugged. "Still, I like the, um, walls. They're nice."

I shook my head and let the comment slide. He like the walls? Rick was a writer. I'm sure he could come up with something better, but didn't want to push too hard.

"So, when is it you're moving? There's a lot of boxes here to be filled."

I winced. "Tomorrow."

Castle raised both eyebrows in surprise.

"I know, I know! It's a lot to do and I don't know that I'll be able to. Mom's already fucking mad at me and I'm so not ready to-"

He pressed his lips to mine for an instant, shutting me up.

"I hope you don't mind if this is the way I get you to stop talking whenever you're being negative." He said, dreamingly.

I shrugged. "I guess I can handle it."

"Hey, it's okay. You'll do fine. First times are hard for everyone, but then you'll get to the good part and-"

"Let me just interrupt you and your first-sex-talk, because it's getting weird."

Castle started laughing. "Okay, I'll rephrase it. _Beginnings_ can be challenging, but once you're past it, you'll find that college can be one of the most amazing experiences you'll ever have."

I looked at him with interest. "Is that what it was like to you?"

He nodded. "Definitely. I studied Journalism at NYU, and it's a great college."

Wow, Journalism. Well, makes sense that a writer would study something to do with writing. Was it weird that it made me hot for him? Fuck, I don't know. Still, never giving that information in.

"Are you willing to share more of that experience with me, or…?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going to be the only one doing the talking. Come on, Beckett, share some things with me!" Rick pouted.

"You're privileged enough to be in my bedroom going through my things and helping me pack. Which, by the way, we should start doing."

I sat on my bed and handed Rick a box named "WINTER CLOTHES".

"You just sit there holding that box while I get a few of my winter coats and blankets."

It was a huge box, and while I went through my closet, I gathered five winter coats and nine blankets. I handed those to him, who stared at me as if I was going crazy.

"Nine blankets? Bekcett, these are all very soft and thick, therefore, heavy. You sure you need nine of them?"

I huffed. "Says the guy who brought a hundred books to his dorm."

He grinned. "Don't get mad, I'm trying to help. And because I've gotten it wrong so many times, I might be able to get it right for you now. And I'm saying you'll only need 3 of those."

It was my turn to laugh. "Three? Castle, there's no way-"

"I'd say minimum three, maximum five. So, you know, go for four."

I shook my head, got three blankets from his extended hand, leaving a total of six.

"Fine, don't listen to me." Rick complained.

"I won't. You're supposed to help, not whine."

He pouted a couple more times and ranted about how good he had become at packing, how his Mother now asked for his advice, how he had learned to take only the necessary on trips… I kept arguing with him, in the healthiest way possible. Not an argument, more of an exchange of diverse opinions only to drive each other crazy.

When we got to the movie box, I was waiting for Castle to comment on something. And, not long after, he did. He reached for my _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ DVD and sighed in disappointment.

"What is it, Rick?" I asked, in a playful tone.

He looked so serious; I couldn't help but bite my lip in order to suppress a grin. "I never would have pegged you for the type of girl who liked sappy romantic stories."

"I am a multilayered woman, Castle. Besides, it's a classic. In case you misunderstood or worse, haven't seen it, I might have to teach you about the importance of this movie. First of all, Audrey Hepburn is an amazing actress and such an inspiration to many people."

"I take it you're one of those people," he suggested, with a disapproving tone.

I let the comment slide. "Second of all, her character is a very strong, independent woman. Like I said, you either suck at interpreting movies or you just made the terrible mistake of not watching this fantastic movie."

He grinned to himself. "I have seen it, Beckett. I don't think it's as good as people claim it to be. Also, it doesn't seem like the type of movie you'd watch."

"Oh really?" I challenged, as I put a few more movies into the box. "What type of movie do you picture me watching?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Something a little less girly and a little more Quentin Tarantino."

"Well, I do enjoy a good Tarantino movie. _Kill Bill_ might be my favorite." I replied.

Castle did a double take. I could easily swear I saw him a bit taken aback. "So you do like Tarantino."

"Of course. And Kill Bill has an amazing backstory, strong, independent woman to look up to… And, you know, very bloody too." I grinned at him for my last remark.

"A woman who like bloody stories. Beckett, you never cease to surprise me."

"I'm glad." I bit my bottom lip and shoved more movies in the box. "I think this is enough movies. If I want anything else, I can just get it from Netflix."

Once again, that got me a surprised expression. Yep, I guess he was right; I do surprise him a lot. "What?"

"Just… You have a Netflix account and you're still bringing a ton of movies with you?"

I shrugged. "Well, yes. I'm only bringing my all-time favorites. Just in case Netflix shuts down permanently while I'm in college, or I'm out of internet for whatever reason. These are the movies I absolutely have to have with me."

He laughed. "Alright, those are good reasons. I'm glad _Kill Bill_ is one of them."

I smiled at him.

"But disappointed that _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ is one of them as well."

I rolled my eyes at him. "I can't believe," I said as I reached for another box to put a couple shirts in, "that you, a wannabe literary genius, had such a hard time comprehending _Breakfast at Tiffany's_."

"Ouch. Wannabe? You wound me. I'm getting there, Kate. And I did _not_ have a hard time comprehending it. I do understand the movie; it just doesn't appeal to me."

I got up from the bed and started defending the movie with everything I had. "See, that's what I'm saying. You don't get the movie. If you did, you'd love it. It would be one of your favorites too."

Castle laughed at that. "Beckett, come on. Do not compare Star Wars with that movie."

I shook my head. "I'm not. I actually don't understand how such comparison could ever be made, because they're completely different genres. But anyway,"

"Nope. It's not happening." Rick looked away from me and looked at the little elephants I had on my desk. He grabbed them and I grabbed them from his hand.

"Um, sorry. I'm-" I started.

He cut me off instantly, hurt. "I'm sorry, Beckett. Please let me go through your things again."

"No, I reacted by instinct. It's just, um, it means a lot to me."

Castle looked concerned. "What, the elephant thing?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it's… There's a story behind it, but I'm not ready to tell you yet."

Castle looked at me once again and nodded. "It's alright."

"I'll tell you someday." If I think I can trust you enough to do it.

He smiled at me before asking. "How long until your Mom gets home?"

I glanced at my watch to find out it was already 4PM and the afternoon had gone by incredibly fast. "I don't know, actually. It could be in an hour; it could be in five. But you can leave if you want."

"I didn't say that. As much as I'd love to have your Mom like me, I think I'd rather risk spending more time with you." I got a wink and a chaste kiss at that.

I grabbed onto his shirt and pulled him close again, only to whisper in his ear. "I think you can kiss me better than that."

He swallowed. "Was that a challenge?"

Castle crashed his lips onto mine and-wow. His tongue ravished me in a way I never thought possible. I wanted to tease him, but I was too busy being teased. I moaned into his mouth and he grinned at my reaction, groaning and breaking the kiss, only to engage in on a new one. I was breathless in no time.

"Shit," I let out.

He chuckled, completely and utterly satisfied with himself. "How was it?"

I pulled away from him but his hands caught on my waist and brought me closer. "God, you're so full of yourself."

"I didn't say anything," Castle grinned again and moved his lips to my neck.

I swallowed hard but stepped back. "No neck kissing."

Rick laughed. "What? Why?"

I avoided his eyes. "My parents could be home at any minute and I don't want to have sex with you here."

I reached for the boxes and tried to organize most of them out of the way, making more space in my bedroom.

"Who said anything about sex?" he asked, playfully.

"You did. When you started the assault in my neck." I mumbled.

Castle laughed. Oh, great. How fucking amusing. He made me hot for him and I couldn't deny it.

"That was _not_ an assault. It was merely kissing. You wouldn't let me." More protests.

I huffed. "Whatever. I'm not risking this – neck kissing – here."

Castle kept grinning.

"I'm serious." I said, but failed at keeping at straight face because Castle started kissing my cheek instead.

I pulled away and smiled at him. "Thank you for your help today packing. It was great – rather distracting, but still great. I hope the age difference isn't too overwhelming for you-"

"I think we'll manage. I'm sure I'll have a hard time with the college guys that try to sneak into your dorm though." He said.

I laughed. "You're funny. Listen, I'm going to NYU tomorrow so-"

"I can come over if you want. Help your parents through the sobbing." He offered.

I bit my bottom lip. He was so attractive and dreamy at the same time. God. "Meet my dad."

Castle laughed nervously. "Yes, I think that might happen."

I kissed him softly for a few seconds before pulling away to say goodbye. "I think you should go. At the odd chance that my Mom might be coming home in ten minutes, I don't want you here to see us fighting."

Rick chuckled. "Hey, um, before I go. I-I know we've only known each other for a few weeks and it's really not that long at all, but- Could you- I mean- It's- Um."

I raised an eyebrow waiting for him to get it together and ask me whatever question it was.

"You know I like you; I've told you that. I get the feeling that it's mutual, so I was wondering whether it would be a problem to assume that we're not going to be seeing other people."

I was surprised, to say the very least. What the fuck? We'd known each other for not long at all, just "got back together" a few hours ago and now he was asking me to be my boyfriend?

"I- Um- Rick. We're getting to know each other. Don't you think it may be too soon to say we're boyfriend and girlfriend?" I asked, softly.

He leaned close to me. "I just. I don't- I'm not asking you that, Kate. You will know when I ask you that. I'm simply asking if you're willing to spend a month- how's that? A month without seeing other people and having casual dates to get to know each other better. Just for a month, and we'll take it from there."

I smiled broadly because, really? A month of being wooed by Rick Castle? I think it'd be a good month. And when you don't really know how to feel about college, having something to look forward to in the next few weeks would be good. It would be great.

"Yep. I'm willing to do that. But I have one condition." I said, playfully.

"What's that?" Castle asked, holding my hand.

So much for "not proposing."

"That you'll watch _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ with me." I smiled and heard him chuckle.

"I promise," and then he moved up to kiss me softly.

I avoided his kiss and Castle looked puzzled.

"And you won't make fun of it."

He pretended to think about it for a good 3 seconds, before answering. "You drive a hard bargain. Deal."

That's when Rick really came close to me and finally kissed me. It was good. We made promises – on what, the third date overall? But I didn't care, because it felt right somehow. I just hoped it kept feeling that way for a long time.

 **AN: Just so I don't forget to say thank you! You're incredible and I'm 100% grateful for every review I get. Please keep on commenting and giving me feedback so I can improve as a writer. 3**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Kate's first day at college! Hope you like it. Oh, and please review it :)**

 **Disclaimer: Not mine.**

I woke up at 9 AM the next morning, overwhelmed with the idea of going to college that exact same day. As soon as I got up from bed, I grabbed my phone on the nightstand and saw a few new messages. One of them was from Maddi, asking me to invite her to all NYU parties, no exception – and, of course, wishing me good luck in not so many words. The other text was from Castle and it said: "good morning, Beckett. when do you want me there?" It had been sent over an hour ago, but I'd only just woken up.

That got me thinking. When _did_ I want him here? I could ask him to go breakfast with me, but then again that wouldn't be very nice – my parents wanted to have our last breakfast as a family and that didn't include Rick Castle. So breakfast was off the table. And I had told him to help get everything packed and into the car, but… Maybe that was more a family moment as well.

Sigh.

I didn't want him to come today, was that a problem? I wanted to go see him, yes, but not with my parents around. This day meant something bigger for them and Castle sure as hell hadn't been around long enough to be here for it.

Alright then. I had to blow him off.

"I'm thinking maybe today isn't the best day. We could meet up for coffee tomorrow?"

I texted him back and felt kind of bad for cancelling on him like that. But at least I'd offered coffee tomorrow, so hopefully that didn't make me sound bitch-y.

Actually, not bitch-y at all. I had every right to spend my last day at home with my parents and not want anybody else with us. Whether they were my friend, boyfriend or Rick Castle.

I went down the stairs smelling fresh cooked bacon, toast and eggs.

"Katie, good morning!" I heard Mom say, with a smile on her face as she came up to hug me.

Dad turned around from the oven and faced the two of us, meeting my eyes. "There's our college girl."

I smiled back. "Here I am."

A few seconds later, as I sat on the chair beside the table and started putting food on my plate, I heard my phone buzz. Both Mom and Dad stared at me as I checked for my text. I knew they didn't like phones on the table, but since it was my last day here, I thought they could cut me some slack.

Castle's text read: "why don't you go to NYU with your parents and I'll pick you up later tonight to get coffee?"

I read it and thought it over in my head. Maybe it was a good idea. I simply texted "sure. I'll let you know when".

I got a glare from Dad for texting on the table, so I quickly locked my phone and put it away, immediately apologizing for disobeying the rule. "Sorry, I had to answer this."

Mom took a bite of her bacon and raised an eyebrow in interest. "Who was it?"

I sighed but replied. "Castle."

Mom definitely seemed surprised now. "Huh, I thought you'd stopped seeing each other."

I shook my head and watched Dad listen carefully to our conversation. "We had a misunderstanding, but he forgave me."

"I want to meet this guy. When's he coming over?" Dad asked.

I bit my bottom lip. "I don't know yet. It's all very new and-"

"Don't worry, Jim, he's a great guy." Mom offered in my defense.

Dad nodded and I smiled at him, reaching for my own piece of bacon.

"Does he go to NYU too?" he asked.

I shook my head. Now was the time to tell him about the age difference. I'm sure Mom has noticed it, but chose not to mention it. And it honestly didn't matter all that much, so why bring it up?

"He, uh, did. He's graduated and- remember when I told you he was a writer?"

Dad nodded. "That's interesting. How old is he?"

I swallowed. "You know what? I think it's the last meal we're having together at home and I'd rather not talk about this. I want to focus on college."

I put on my best smile and heard Mom biting down a laugh – because she _knew_ what I was trying to avoid.

"Katie. How old is this guy?"

"He's twenty-six. But we're not a thing yet, so there's nothing to worry about-"

Dad looked at me and raised both eyebrows. "You do know you're going to college in a few hours. And that you will most likely be overwhelmed with different things to do, people to meet, opportunities to grow…"

"I do understand that. But, like I said, we're not really dating. Mom knows that even! Right, Mom?"

She laughed. Really laughed. "I don't know, Katie, it sounds to me like you've been going on dates. I could definitely call what you're doing _dating_ , but that's not a problem at all."

Dad smiled. "Katie, you do what you think is best. I'm just saying that if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't be starting something new right now. If I had, I would never have met your mother and had a lovely kid like you today."

I shrugged. "I wasn't looking for this. And I know how to have fun in college without boys. That's not a must, Dad. You should be teaching me otherwise." I winked at him, teasingly.

He groaned. "Not what I meant. Johanna, help me out here?"

"What your dad is trying to tell you is that Rick is a bit older than you and this might not be the right moment for you to be dating him. That and he doesn't really like the fact that Rick's older." Mom affirmed.

Dad smiled and grabbed Mom's hand to give it a gentle squeeze in thanks.

"But I am sure he will change this kind of thought process as soon as Rick walks through that door and charms the hell out of him." She completed.

I grinned and got up to put my plate in the dishwasher. "You won't be meeting him anytime soon, though, Dad. Simply because we're _not_ dating, despite what Mom thinks."

Dad shook his head and changed the subject. "Are you ready to start gathering your things?"

I laughed. "You mean psychologically ready or actually ready?"

"Both?"

I sighed. I didn't want to go, and yet- I did. I wanted the freedom and the space, but I definitely didn't want the responsibility and scary life that awaited.

"Jim, why don't you go get dressed? I need to borrow Katie for a second."

Dad did as he was told and I headed towards my bedroom and I could see Mom's shadow following me in.

"It's time." Mom said.

"Time for what?"

"You know. One of those clichés that only happen in movies – the goodbye and the tears."

I laughed nervously. Mom was freaking hilarious. God, I'd miss this.

"You know I'm not leaving town, right? It's NYU; it's literally right here. We can see each other, text, call…" I said.

She shrugged. "It's just not the same thing. I won't be able to help you as much, annoy you as much or take care of you as much."

I bit my bottom lip and nodded. "I know. But, Mom, I'm not a kid anymore. Yes, I know I sometimes act like it, but I promise you I'm not. And I will miss you and Dad so much. I don't know that I'll get through the first month."

She hugged me tightly and I felt a few tears shed.

"Promise me you'll be careful. With everything. No matter what, that you'll try to be careful."

I nodded. "I will."

She pulled away from our hug and looked me in the eye. "You know, Katie, I see things. I saw Castle's car yesterday afternoon. You invited him over, disobeying our agreement."

I shook my head. "That's not how it happened. I _didn't_ invite him over."

"I saw his car. I came by our street because I needed to talk to Colleen and I happened to see that you weren't home alone."

Great. What happened was: Colleen was practically our neighbor. She lived not very far from us and sometimes Mom would go visit her to talk about the firm and a few cases, because Colleen was experienced and they had a good time together. Unfortunately, they met up yesterday and Mom saw Rick's car parked outside our house when she was on her way to Colleen's.

"You have to believe me; I didn't ask Castle to come over. He texted me saying he was right outside the door and so I had to let him in."

Mom looked at me and ran her fingers through my hair. "It doesn't matter right now. It got to me a bit, but I'm really just saying that… Whatever it is you're doing with him, be careful. And try not to get yourself hurt in the process."

I nodded. "Thanks. I will."

She hugged me once again and kept talking. "We're here – me and Dad – to help you whenever you need. You can always call, come over, text, I don't care."

I nodded one more time. "You can always call me when you want to too. I'll be there. Probably working, studying or things like that, but I'll be available."

She laughed. "I love you, Katie. Even when you're a lot to handle."

I grinned. "I love you too, Mom." And I hugged her tighter.

After crying with Mom for about an hour, I got everything together and in the car. Dad was quiet for most of the ride and I could tell that he was sad. We chose not to talk, for it would be too much. I would only start crying again and Mom couldn't handle it anymore.

That way, when we finally got to NYU, I went outside the car and Mom got a few of my boxes and set them near my dorm room while Dad came to talk to me.

"Katie, I already miss you." He blurted out.

I laughed sadly. "I already miss you too, Dad."

"Will you promise to keep in touch? Come over for the weekends every now and then, let us know what you're up to and how everything else is going?"

I nodded. "I will. Will you take care of yourself and Mom for me? Just, I don't know. Take a few days off and go travel, maybe."

He smirked. "I'd been meaning to do that. I might, actually."

"But, you know, you have to keep her stress levels normal. Because now that I'm gone, she'll be more calm and I need you to make sure you stress her out more than you used to – so we can keep the regular balance. Does that make sense?"

Dad laughed and Mom came closer. "What are you talking about, Katherine? Jim, that daughter of yours…"

"She's real trouble, I know. But you helped me make her."

I smirked, listening to Mom. "And if it weren't for me, she wouldn't have such a brilliant mind and intelligence."

"And what exactly has she inherited from me?" Dad asked, teasingly.

Mom huffed. "The sassiness. And the troublemaker part. That's all on you."

I bit my bottom lip to resume a laugh. "I love you."

Dad started crying. I knew his time would be coming soon. "I love you, Katie. I'll miss you- I already do."

Mom shed a few tears as well and I just knew it- it was time we all did. Our beautiful family hugged one another as the tears shed down our faces and we all knew that this would be something incredibly different for all of us – like some sort of new phase.

I got into the dorm room and found it empty. There were only two beds and I picked mine, setting a bunch of boxes on top of it. Turns out, there was really nobody in it yet and I didn't feel like unpacking my shit right then. I wanted to – I don't know – feel lighter. Saying goodbye to my parents wasn't at all easy and I need to take my mind off of it. That's when I decided to text Castle.

"Hey, I'm already at NYU. Wanna get some coffee now?"

Not too long after, I got a text saying: "there's a Starbucks close to NYU. Want me to go get you and we can go there?"

I sighed. So Starbucks wasn't as good as the usual place we had – the one near my house. Or, rather, my parents' house. But this would have to do. Maybe our usual place would just have to be the Starbucks near NYU now.

"I'll be waiting for you by NYU's entrance."

After hitting "send", I decided to get out of my dorm room and go explore campus until Castle came to pick me up. Apparently, he was already on his way, but that still gave me a few minutes.

I left the room, shutting it close and I only had a grey jacket, my keys and purse with documents and money. My outfit wasn't at all "stylish", it was simply comfortable. And I was okay with it on days like these.

As soon as I shut the door, though, a girl came up to me.

"Hey, do you live in this room?"

I nodded. "I just moved in here, yes. Are you my roommate or something?" I smiled, trying to be cool.

She nodded. "Oh my God, that's great. You seem nice, and I think we'll get along."

I smiled. "I guess? Um, so I put my boxes on top of the bed I chose, and then there's your bed and you can start unpacking or whatever."

"Oh, you haven't unpacked yet either?"

I shook my head. "No, but I will start later today. I'm just going for a walk and maybe some coffee."

"Oh good. I'm Lanie Parish, by the way." She extended a hand, which I accepted.

"Kate Beckett."

"Hey, um, Kate. Are you going to get coffee by yourself?"

"Um, no, actually. My, um," I started. My what? Boyfriend? Rick wasn't my boyfriend. "friend is taking me. But we can get a raincheck on that?"

She nodded. "Absolutely, girl. Have fun."

And then she went inside the room and I started walking towards the entrance.

A few minutes later, of a lot of walking and contemplating the view of NYU's campus, I got to the main entrance. Not long after, I saw Castle's car pulling over to meet me. I smiled and opened the door to get in.

"Hey," I said.

He pressed his lips to mine in greeting – did we even do that? – and smiled, starting the car back on and taking getting back on the road.

"So, how was it today? A lot of crying?"

I laughed. "Yes. A lot."

He laughed. "Are your parents like 100% worried that you'll do drugs and have too much sex and get pregnant or something?"

I smirked at him. "I think they might be, in the normal amount."

Castle grinned. "Ah, you are lucky then. Mother thought she was sending me to war with all those 'be careful, kid' advices she gave me."

I smiled. "I got plenty of those myself. But I mean, I can't blame them, you know? I've done enough shit that I deserve to hear it. But you…"

Rick smirked. "You know what was funny? She told me all the crazy things she did in college when I was, I don't know, 8? And challenged me to do more. By the time I was 17 and still remembered them, she was so scared I'd try to top that."

I laughed. "What the fuck, are you serious?"

"True story." He nodded. "But anyway, have you met many people yet?"

"Castle, I just got here like, 20 minutes ago. How many people do you think I've met?" I rolled my eyes.

"I don't know. You're beautiful, you're social – sometimes – and you have a kickass smile. I'd say 50 people?"

I bit my bottom lip. "One. My roommate. She seems nice, actually."

"That's always good," he said, as he found a parking spot near Starbucks. I honestly didn't know how he managed. Every time I went out with Castle, we could always find a perfectly decent parking spot. When I was alone or with my friends, we couldn't find a single spot – which is common, since it's New York we're talking about. With Castle, though, I didn't have that problem.

"Hey, do you mind if we get the coffee to go and sit in the car?" I suggested.

He shrugged. "Not at all," he could tell that I was a bit taken aback by everything that happened today – moving, for starters – and he agreed to do it. He knew that I didn't feel well enough to go outside and order things, so… "In fact, why don't I go get us our coffees and you can sit in the car waiting?"

I smiled. "You are an angel."

He chuckled. "Some might say I'm the devil."

I pressed my lips to his softly and quickly pulled away. "I'll be here waiting."

He left the car and walked into the coffee shop, leaving me to wait for him. About ten minutes later, Castle opened the car door and handed me a cup of coffee along with a small Starbucks bag.

"What's this?" I asked, opening the bag to find two bagels.

"I figured you haven't had lunch." He said, by way of explanation.

I raised an eyebrow in amusement. "And a bagel makes up for lunch?"

He frowned. "What you're trying to say, I think, is 'thank you'."

I grinned. "Thank you. Have you had lunch?"

"I had a peanut butter sandwich before coming to get you." Rick took a sip of his coffee.

I did the same and turned around to face him. "What have you been up to?"

He shrugged. "Reading, writing. You know, I'm getting the book published next month. You might wanna come with me for these few minutes of fame."

I took a long sip of coffee before answering. "It's still a month away, Rick. We shouldn't be making any plans."

He looked away. Probably a bit upset, but I had to say the truth rather than lead him on.

"But, um, I'm gald it's almost getting published. You must be feeling like a rock star or something."

He smiled. "Definitely something."

I grabbed a bagel from the bag and started eating it. Castle watched me and smiled. His black shirt and jeans were anything but a summer outfit. I had shorts and a striped tank top on.

"So. Your job at the library. Are you keeping it?" he asked.

I looked at him. "Depends. I'm going there tomorrow to figure things out. If they're willing to be flexible, we can work a schedule; if not, I'll have to find something else. Why?"

"Just thinking. Maybe if you do keep it, you'll be able to see my book on one of your shelves at work. Wouldn't that be great?"

I drank my coffee. "God, you're such a narcissist."

"Don't kid yourself, Beckett. You like it." He said.

"Oh really?"

"Really. You set a coffee date for us tomorrow, and yet, you simply couldn't wait." Castle affirmed.

I shook my head in surrender. "You know what, it's true. I wanted us to have coffee today…"

"I knew it," he said, drinking some more of his coffee.

"…only because I was vulnerable." I finished, smiling.

He forced a laugh. "You? Vulnerable? Come on."

"Yes. And I figured you could help, by, I don't know… Just being here, I guess."

Castle sensed my serious tone of voice and went for honesty as well. "I hope I am."

I looked at his eyes and felt his eyes darken. I didn't know what do to except stare at him.

"You are," I said. I leaned in close to him and kissed him senseless.

Castle started out a long, slow kiss that soon heated up to a point that I moaned in his mouth. Fuck. So much for not being vulnerable. I noticed the coffee cups and tried to keep a distance from them as I sat on Rick's lap and felt his hands under my tank top, slowly lifting it up. I held onto his neck only to bring his lips even closer to mine.

Not too long after, I felt his mouth touching my neck and slightly sucking on it. F-fuck. His hands were now touching my thighs and I got back to my senses.

It was 12:30PM, completely light outside. We were parked in front of Starbucks and shit- I'd almost spilled coffee all over the seat.

"You, Beckett, are a fucking tease." I heard in response as soon as I returned to the passenger's seat.

I looked at him. "You're no different. In fact, I'd say you're worse."

He chuckled, putting his hand on my left thigh. "Wha-"

"You need to stop touching me," I said, removing his hand from my thigh.

"What?" He asked, laughing. "What did I do?"

I sighed. "I'm not telling you how hot you made me for you because I'm already vulnerable enough for the day. So just- don't."

Castle seemed to think that was amusing and pressed his lips to mine in a chaste kiss.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" He asked.

I shrugged. "We are _not_ making out in front of Starbucks."

He laughed. "Are we making out somewhere else, though?"

I bit my bottom lip only to tease him. "Sure, why not?" and then gave him my best smile.

 **AN: Thanks so much for reading! Oh, and don't forget to review this chapter to let me know what you think. Thank you for supporting this story!  
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